


Superfleet III: Into The Mirrorverse

by fiveainley_ohmy



Series: Superfleet Academy [3]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/M, Love Triangles, M/M, Mirror Universe, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-01-08 04:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21230150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveainley_ohmy/pseuds/fiveainley_ohmy
Summary: Spock Grayson's junior year comes to an abrupt halt when his beloved boyfriend Jim is the latest in a series of mysterious disappearances. Can the gang save Jim and Principal Georgiou from the rough and dangerous Mirrorverse? How will they react when they encounter their darker selves? And is there something more to Spock and Bones's volatile friendship?





	1. The Scientific Method

_The party tarried forth, on the road to the dragon’s cave to reap all the riches they found there. But their journey was fraught with peril at every turn._

_They soon found themselves in a shadowy neck of the woods. “I don’t like this,” Koschei, the rogue of the group, whispered. “I’m scared.”_

_“I’m gonna cast a warding spell to repel any enemy that might be lurking in these woods,” said Doc Holliday, their cleric._

_Unfortunately, his spell was weak, and their band was caught unawares by bloodthirsty ogres!_

_The bard, Morbidda Destiny, stepped forward. The dragonborn master of melody opened her mouth and let out a screeching power chord that disoriented the ogres, leaving them open for an attack..._

_The Venus Flytrap unleashed his sword and attacked the leader. His blow was impressive, but not enough to take him down. He did manage to take one of his eyeballs, though._

_Koschei tried to creep up on one of their enemies, but trod upon a stick and broke it in half, calling attention to himself. He took 4 damage._

_It was the leader’s turn to strike. He chose the group’s both strongest and most vulnerable point, the cleric. Doc Holliday, not paying attention, was too slow to evade and took 6 damage-_

“This is such bullshit!” Bones exclaimed, glaring at his d20, which was on 2. “Like I wouldn’t be paying attention to the fucking GIANT OGRE trying to kill me!”

“Don’t blame me, cowboy,” Jim grinned. “The gods clearly do not smile on you today.”

“You take this way too fucking seriously.”

Jim rolled his eyes. “Fine, Mr. Grumpy Pants, use one of your healing potions on your next turn then.”

“You know I can’t do that! I hafta cast the healing spell on the group so they survive this stupid detour.”

“Now who’s taking it too seriously?” Spock said with a smirk.

“Shut it, you!” Bones grumbled.

_Now it was the wizard’s turn. William Wallace raised his magic staff, and dealt 3 damage to all their foes._

_And finally...it was Spock’s turn._

“I still can’t believe you didn’t even fucking come up with a name for your character,” Bones complained.

“Spock _is_ a name. It is _my_ name.”

“Oh you are such a-!”

“Guys!” Jim gave them exasperated looks. “Can you stop bickering so we can finish the adventure, please?!” It seemed like Spock and Bones had been needling each other more than usual.

Spock and Bones both looked sheepish. “Sorry,” they said in unison.

Finally the adventure came to a stopping point and everyone got to their feet to go home. “Good night, guys,” said Hikaru. “See you at band practice tomorrow. Maybe we can finally come up with a group name.”

“Ve’ve gotten really good, considering ve started zis band only a year ago. I can’t beliewe how fast zis school year’s gone by,” said Pavel.

“And blissfully uneventful,” Spock added.

“Speak for yourself,” said Bones with a shudder. “I’m _graduating_ in five weeks.”

“Any idea what you’ll be choosing for your super name yet?” Nyota asked as she packed up her dice. Black, of course.

Bones shrugged. “Not yet.”

“Well you better come up with something quick,” Sulu warned. “Not much time left.”

“Anyone have any ideas?”

“Hmm..._Flameboy!_” Jim suggested with a wide grin.

“_No_,” Bones said, but he was grinning too. “You and your _Friends_ references.”

“Could I _be_ any more into pop culture?”

“Well, you have a month to decide,” Spock said to Bones.

“Yeah.” Bones smirked. “Then you’ll finally have me out of your hair.”

“And it will be such a welcome reprieve,” Spock shot back, leaning nearer to him.

“Yeah, I just _bet-_”

Scotty cleared his throat, and Spock and Bones realized how close they were standing. They blushed and quickly moved apart as Scotty chuckled nervously and said, “Leave room for Jesus, you two.”

Jim leaned up and kissed Spock on the cheek. “Good night, sweetheart. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night, my love,” Spock warmly responded.

Jim turned to Bones. “C’mere, cowboy.”

Bones rolled his eyes at the nickname and hugged Jim around the waist. “Good night, sunshine.” Then he somewhat awkwardly patted Spock on the shoulder. “Night, nerd.”

“Good night, Bones,” Spock said with a fond eyeroll.

“Good night, John Boy, good night, Mary Ellen, good night, Jim Bob,” said Nyota with an eyeroll as she ushered the others out.

* * *

The next morning, everyone congregated in Nyota’s garage. “Come on, guys, we’ve got a lot of practicing to get in and not a lot of time to do it,” Spock said, strapping on his guitar. “Nyota, what song do you want to start with?”

Nyota thought for a second. “Let’s start with ‘Ballroom Blitz’.”

“Works for me. Everyone ready?”

“Ready,” Scotty said from his keyboard.

“Ready,” said Bones, bass in hand.

“Ready!” Jim twirled his drumsticks.

“I’m ready,” said Pavel, waving his tamborine.

“Let’s rock!” Hikaru said, raising his trumpet high.

Jim tapped out a four count on his sticks, and then the band launched into the intro. Jim created a frenetic beat with his drums and cymbals, Bones provided a stimulating bass line to match, and Spock wailed on his lead guitar. Pavel beat his tambourine enthusiatically, and Nyota leaned into the mike to sing.

_“Oh, it’s been gettin’ so hard, livin’ with the things you do to me. My dreams are gettin’ so strange, like to tell you everything I see...”_

Spock looked over at Bones and nodded. They were doing really well.

“_I see a man at the back, as a matter of fact, his eyes are as red as the sun!_” Nyota wailed into the microphone. “_And a girl in the corner, let no one ignore her, ‘cause she thinks she’s the passionate one! OHHH YEAHHHHH!_”

“_It was like lightning...everybody was frightning,_” the boys sang along with her. “_And the music was soothing...so they all started grooving! Ohhhhh yeah! And the man in the back said ‘everyone, attack’, and it turned into a ballroom blitz! And the girl in the corner said, ‘boy I wanna warn ya, it’ll turn into a ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz!...Ballroom blitz!_’”

Suddenly, the sound disappeared from the two guitars and the microphone. Only the percussion and Nyota’s voice, unamplified, made noise. They stopped playing, looking mystified.

“Did the amp burn out?” Spock asked.

Everyone looked over at the amp...or rather, where the amp _had_ been a second ago.

“...wh-...where did the amp go?” Pavel said tentatively.

Hikaru, mystified, waved his hand in the space where the amp had been, as if testing to see if it had turned invisible, but his hand simply passed through the air. “It’s...gone.”

The seven of them stood around, in stunned silence. Their amplifier had simply...disappeared into thin air.

“I guess practice is over,” Scotty murmured.

* * *

The school bus was there to pick them up bright and early Monday morning. “Mornin’, boys,” Sulu said, opening the door for them.

Jim and Spock took their seats behind him as usual. “Only a week till the election,” Spock said, fretting. “Do you think we’ve campaigned enough?”

“I don’t think you need to worry too much about it, sweetheart. You’re the most popular guy in our grade, and the smartest,” Jim replied. “You’ve saved the school twice. If someone doesn’t vote for you for student body president, they’re an idiot.”

“I think you mean _we’ve_ saved the school twice,” said Spock, smiling and squeezing his hand.

Jim beamed at him. “See? This is why you’ll win in a landslide. You’re a sexy superhero _and_ you’re super sweet to boot.” He leaned over and kissed him.

“Next stop...Superfleet Academy!” Hikaru called over his shoulder. Seatbelts popped out from the seats and strapped everybody in. Jim and Spock grinned at each other and squeezed their joined hands, then screamed as the bus dropped off into the sky.

* * *

“Alright, alright, no running in the halls, you little shits!” Vice Principal Lorca called as students filed into the building. “Hey, you! Uhura! Spit that gum out, Catgirl!”

Nyota scowled and threw her gum into the bin.

“Hey, Mr. Lorca, is Principal Georgiou back from her sabbatical yet?” Jim asked.

“That’s none of your business, cheer squad. Don’t you have some pom-poms to go shake?”

Jim frowned. “I was just trying to make conversation, _sorry_,” he said as he and the rest of the gang walked away.

“Hey, Jim, Spock,” Scotty said, “You have Mad Science III with Daystrom first thing, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Jim said.

“You should ask him about the amp,” Scotty suggested. “He might know something about...spacial anomalies or somethin’.”

“Well while you do that, I’ll be having a _blast_ in Ethics of Superheroics,” Bones replied. “_Yeehaw._”

“That’s not a bad idea, Scotty,” Spock said. “Daystrom might know why an object just disappears out of the blue.”

“We’ll report back with our intel,” Jim said. “Synchronize your watches. We’ll meet you at 1200 hours.”

“Chill out, James Blond,” Bones said with a fond eyeroll as they all parted ways.

* * *

The bell rang as Jim and Spock slid onto their lab stools. Daystrom stood in front of the classroom and said, “Good morning, students. It's going to be an exciting morning. We're going to be doing a fun experiment: microatomic dissection.”

“Uh, sir?” Spock asked, raising his hand. “Isn’t that what made the lights explode in the Hero Support classroom two years?”

“Yes, yes, but I’ve gotten a handle on it,” Daystrom said, waving his hand. “Now, everyone get close to your partner...”

Jim and Spock scooted closer together, grinning.

“If you’ll look through your atomic microscopes, you’ll be able to see the atom you’ll be working with. Now, you might notice that your atom has 27 electrons. Can anyone tell me what element that is?”

Spock raised his hand again. “Cobalt, sir.”

“That’s right, very good, Mr. Grayson. Would you like to try splitting your atom first?”

“Er...alright.” Spock still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but Daystrom was a veteran scientist...if they were in any danger, he wouldn’t let them do this, right?

Spock picked up his forceps and microlaser. Peering through the barrel of the microscope, he gingerly grasped the atom with the tips of his forceps.

“Steady, sweetheart...” Jim breathed.

Spock swallowed and turned on the laser. A tiny blue jet of light shot out of the end.

“Careful not to burn or lance yourself,” Daystrom added.

Spock forced his hands to remain firm. He brought the laser to the nucleus of the atom...and carefully began to bisect it. The class held its breath.

Spock put the laser down. “It’s done.”

“Let me see...” Jim looked through the scope. “Damn. Split right down the middle!”

“Language, Mr. Kirk,” said Daystrom.

“Sorry, Doc.”

“Well done, Mr. Grayson! Now-”

Suddenly the room began to shake. “Uh oh,” said Jim.

“Everyone get down!” Daystrom shouted.

Suddenly, the microscope disappeared. “What?” Spock said.

Suddenly Spock and Jim jumped back as a large gray box appeared in the microscope’s place. “I don’t believe it,” Jim said. “That’s our amp!”

Everyone stood around in stunned silence. Finally, Daystrom cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “Well...I think it’s safe to say that this experiment is over. Class dismissed early today.”

Everyone rushed to leave, except for Spock and Jim, who were still frozen in bewilderment.


	2. Sticking To My Principals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name of the chapter is on purpose, I know the difference between "principal" and "principle".

“I’ve been doing that experiment for the last 12 years,” said Daystrom, scratching his head. “I don’t understand it. There’ve been a few _minor_ explosions, but it’s certainly never conjured musical equipment!”

“And here I thought we’d make it through _one_ school year without a major incident,” Jim said. He snapped his fingers. “So close.”

“Dr. Daystrom, I believe some sort of spatial anomaly is happening in this vicinity,” Spock said.

“That certainly goes without saying, Mr. Grayson,” Daystrom replied. “The question, is what’s causing it? I’d better take some electromagnetic readings. Do you find if I hold onto your amplifier for the time being?”

“It’s fine, Doctor D. Just as long as we get this thing sorted out,” Jim said. “Come on, Spock. I think we have a lot to share with our friends...”

* * *

“Remind me vhy ve are having zis meeting in ze library instead of ze cafeteria?” Pavel said, his stomach growling.

“Because lunch can wait, Pasha ol’ boy,” Jim said, slapping his shoulder. “We’ve got a new mystery to solve.”

“Oh great,” Nyota said, rolling her eyes. “Another whirlwind adventure for Scooby Doo and the Clue Crew.”

“Hey, who you callin’ Scooby?” Jim asked. “It’s obvious that I’m Fred, due to my devastatingly good looks.”

“So is Spock Daphne then?” Hikaru asked.

“No way, he’s gotta be Velma,” Scotty argued.

“Guys. Focus,” Bones grunted.

“Thank you, Bones,” Spock said. “Some force caused a piece of our equipment to disappear, into thin air. Today it reappeared just as randomly. We need to determine the cause of these anomalies and possibly put a stop to them.”

“Isn’t zat vat Dr. Daystrom is doing?” Pavel asked.

“Yes, but from a purely scientific point of view. If some outside force is causing this, it may be a precursor to a larger attack on the fabric of reality. We may have to stop it.”

“Why is it always us who has to stop the Big Bad?” Bones griped, crossing his arms. “This is a school full of superpowered people; why don’t any of them get off their asses and do some saving the day for a change?”

“Because like it or not, we have the ability to take action; therefore we have the _responsibility_ to take action,” Spock replied firmly.

“I ain’t sayin’ I don’t wanna help,” Bones growled back. “I’m just sayin’, why does it always have to be us? We’re just dumb teenagers, the adults should be steppin’ up!”

“Some of them help,” Jim said in a meager defense. “Daystrom has been plenty helpful, and Principal Georgiou has always...” He paused. “Wait a second...does anyone know exactly where she went on her sabbatical?”

“No one does, sunshine. That asshole Lorca gets all snippy when anyone asks, remember?” Bones said, rolling his eyes.

“But why would Lorca hide that information? And where did he even come from anyway? He just conveniently showed up at the same time Georgiou left? That’s highly sus.”

“What are you saying, Jim?” Spock asked.

“I’m _saying_ that our amplifier popping in and out of existence _and_ Georgiou’s disappearance _and_ Lorca showing up out of nowhere _can’t_ all be a coincidence.”

“You think Lorca did away with her, Dirk Gently?” Bones asked.

“I _think_ that he knows more about where she went than he’s letting on,” Jim replied. “Maybe she ended up in the same place as our amplifier went to when it disappeared.”

“Well we can’t just go barging into his office demanding answers,” Bones said. “Believe me, he’ll just seal you up in a block of ice and leave you in the cafeteria walk-in freezer. Bastard.”

“Then why don’t we investigate _him_ first?” Hikaru suggested. “I mean, pretty much all we know about the guy is his name, and that he’s got a pottymouth for a school principal. Maybe if we know more about him, it’ll lead us to some answers about where Principal Georgiou ended up.”

“Zounds good to me,” Pavel replied.

“To the Google homepage,” Nyota declared, raising her fingerless lace glove-encased fist.

They headed over to the computers and Scotty signed on. “I’m goin’ to a proxy server so the school wireless security system willnae pick up on what we’re doin’. You all know how paranoid Lorca is. He’s probably got it set up to alert him if ever someone searches him on the computers in case someone goes a-snoopin’.”

“Good idea, Scotty,” said Spock. “Where did you learn this trick?”

“From me,” said Nyota, shrugging. “Stupid school blocked FanFiction.net so I had to get creative.”

“Dude, it’s 2021, you’re still reading fan fic on that garbage website? Just come to the AO3 side, we have cookies,” Jim said.

“It’s the Internet, every website has cookies,” said Spock, mystified.

Jim rolled his eyes fondly. “Not _that_ kind of cookies, sweetheart. Never mind.”

“Guys?” Scotty suddenly said, his voice having gone funny, and everybody turned their attention back to the screen. “This is our guy, right?” He pointed to the top result on Google.

Everyone stared in surprise. “Uh...maybe it’s a _different_ Gabriel Lorca?” Hikaru suggested.

Spock reached over Scotty’s shoulder and clicked on the link. A new webpage loaded. “The picture...it _is_ him,” Spock said.

“How is this possible?” Nyota said, leaning forward.

They silently read the obituary headline: **Gabriel Buran Lorca, died age 54**.

“It says below he died two years ago,” said Pavel, pointing.

“Well you don’t need to be a doctor to tell that he’s alive and kicking,” Bones asserted, furrowing his eyebrow.

“Maybe he has regenerative powers, like the Cheerleader,” Spock suggested.

“But we know he has ice powers,” Bones argued. “Believe me, I know _all too well_.”

“People can have two sets of powers, you and I are living proof of that.”

“But look,” Jim pointed to the article. “According to this, Gabriel Lorca is...was...a normie. No powers to speak of. Otherwise they would’ve published his superhero name in the obit. Here, print this page out, Scotty.”

“Will do. But maybe he wasn’t out as a super,” Scotty suggested. “I mean, maybe no one knew he had powers.”

“Superfleet would’ve had him on record.”

“Maybe he never went to Superfleet.”

“Or _maybe_ the guy up and around walking and talking at our school now isn’t this guy,” Nyota suggested. “He could be a shifter like me.”

“Maybe he’s an ewil tvin!” Pavel exclaimed.

Bones rolled his eyes. “It’s _never_ an evil twin, Yakov Smirnoff.”

“Speculation is going to get us nowhere,” Spock said finally. “We don’t have enough facts to support a logical conclusion.”

“Then what do you suggest we do, nerd?” Bones scoffed. “Cuz right now, we got a missing principal, a suspicious vice principal, an unfathomable obituary, and an amplifier that pops in and out of existence.”

“Precisely,” Spock said. “We have certain pieces of an incomplete puzzle. The best thing we can do is conduct for research.”

“Research, schmesearch! Let’s go straight to the smoking gun of this whole case and blow it wide open--Lorca’s our person of interest, so let’s go drag some truth out of him.”

“You _just said_ five minutes ago that going to Lorca for answers was illogical, that he would entrap us all in ice if he felt threatened.”

“Yeah, but that was before we had dirt on him! Besides, he can’t take all of us!”

“We can’t go around attacking faculty! _You_ of all people should know that.”

“_Really?_ You’re gonna throw that back in my face?!”

“Guys, guys, _please!_” Jim exclaimed, getting between them. “I’ve had _enough_ of the dick measuring contest between you two! Will you guys _please_-?!”

“Stop shouting in my library?”

Everyone jumped at the sound of the school librarian’s commanding voice.

Jim put his hands behind his back sheepishly. “Sorry, Mr. Sisko.”

“Another outburst like that, Mr. Kirk, and I’ll have to throw you and your friends out. With as many hours you spend in here and the amount of books you check out on a weekly basis, I’d have thought you’d be an expect on Library Etiquette by now,” Sisko said. “What are you kids doing in here, anyway?”

“We’re...researching,” Spock replied.

“Ah, how very elaborate.”

“Mr. Sisko, your power is talking to ghosts, right?” Jim said, suddenly inspired. “Could you try and contact someone for us?”

Sisko looked at him sympathetically. “I’m sorry, but I’m not a Ouija board. I know you must miss your father terribly, but-”

“Oh...no.” Jim suddenly looked struck. “No, I wasn’t asking about that.” He looked at the floor.

“Oh. My apologies...” Sisko looked embarrassed. “Who was it you wanted to speak to?” he asked in a kinder voice.

“Uh...just Principal Georgiou, sir.”

“Principal Georgiou? But she’s not dead,” Sisko said in surprise.

“We’re just worried about her, Mr. Sisko,” Spock said. “No one seems to know where she is, except for the vice principal, and he won’t talk about it.”

“I’m sure she’s perfectly fine. In any event, if something _unfortunate_ had happened to the principal, I would’ve sensed it,” Sisko replied.

“How about...Gabriel Lorca?” Bones piped up. “Can you talk to him?”

“He’s not dead either. You kids _do_ know what ghosts are, right?”

“Well tell that to this obituary we just found online,” Bones said, waving the printout in front of Sisko. “This look like fake news to you?”

Sisko’s eyebrows crinkled as he skimmed the article. Then he closed his eyes. “Let me see...” He stood still for a few moments, then they popped open in surprise. “He _is_ dead. But how is this possible...?”

“So now we know,” Jim said, turning to the group. “The Vice Principal is an imposter. So what we should do now is-”

And suddenly Jim was gone, nothing but empty space where he’d been standing before.

“What on Earth?!” Sisko exclaimed, jumping back.

“JIM!” Spock and Bones cried at the same time.

“He’s disappeared--just like our amplifier!” Hikaru said, aghast.

“B-bu-but he’ll come back, right? Like the amp did?” Bones stammered.

“You mean like Georgiou _didn’t_?” Nyota said. “Yeah, I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Spock stared at the empty spot where Jim had been standing mere moments ago, haunted.

Scotty gently touched his arm. “Spock?” he asked.

Spock was silent for a moment. Then he said, without turning around, in a dangerously calm voice: “We are going to solve this.”

Everyone stared nervously at his back.

“We _are_ going to bring him back,” Spock said, his voice getting louder. “And I will move _hell and earth_ if that’s what it takes to save him.”

Everyone shared a nervous look. Then Bones swallowed and took a step forward, putting his hand on Spock’s shoulder. Spock looked up and Bones stared straight into his eyes. He nodded firmly. “Hell yeah we are,” he growled.

* * *

“-rally the teachers and staff, get some of the other upperclassmen on-” Jim froze, realizing his surroundings had changed drastically. He was still standing in the library, but all the bookshelves were empty and pushed to the side. A vibrating, pulsing machine was parked in the middle of the room ominously, growling like some kind of animal.

“Well that’s not right,” Jim mumbled.

“Well, well, well...another one.”

Jim whirled around to see two students marching toward him in identical dark grey outfits. “Bashir...Kira!” he exclaimed, recognizing them. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on, Pretty Boy, is that you’re a trespasser in our Empress’s device room,” Kira said with a smirk. “Which means we get to throw you in the cooler.”

“Huh?”

“Sic ‘em, Jules.”

Bashir gave Jim a wicked leer before morphing into his rock form and charging him.

“Ahh!” Jim exclaimed, diving out of the way. Bashir just managed to skid to a halt before he could run into the device.

“Be careful, you nincompoop!” Kira sneered at her cohort. “If you damage the Device, the Empress will have both our heads!”

Bashir roared and charged Jim again, but this time he was ready.. “Time out!” Jim shouted, raising his hands and making him freeze in place.

“NO!” Kira exclaimed, raising her fists. Sonic ripples tore through the air toward Jim.

“Ahh!” Jim cried again, falling on his behind.

Kira stalked toward him, but Jim used his time manipulation powers to speed himself up. He jumped to his feet and bolted from the room before Kira had even taken three steps.

Jim dashed through the hallways, panting, as an alarm began to sound. He looked around at the new, black, gold, and burgundy color scheme the corridor had taken on, much more forboding that the white, blue, and yellow colors of Superfleet Academy that he was used to. “What the hell is going on?!” he exclaimed.

Suddenly a wall of blue fire appeared in front of him and Jim skidded to a halt. “Whoa!” he shouted, arms waving desperately to catch his balance.

A figure stepped out of the shadows and Jim gaped at him. The assailant was wearing a jean jacket with patches of fire and a skull on the arms with a black tee shirt and ragged black jeans and biker boots. His thick brown hair was shaved on one side, exposing his scalp. There was a jagged scar running down his left cheek, and another small one cutting a line through his right eyebrow. But the intense blue eyes were the same.

“_Bones?_” Jim exclaimed.

Bones regarded him, and raised his eyebrows. “Holy shit.”

Suddenly Jim heard a swish behind him and whirled around. Someone had dropped down onto the floor behind him. He had glasses with blue tinted lenses, and a crisp goatee. He was wearing a long black leather jacket over a navy blue turtleneck. He stared at Jim coldly.

“_Spock_,” Jim whispered. “What’s happening?”

“What’s happening, handsome, is that you came to the wrong universe,” said a third, familiar voice.

Jim turned again, to see another man marching up next to Bones. He had shoulder length, wavy blonde hair, a devilish stubble growing on his jawline around his amused smirk. Three gold hoops stuck out from his right ear, like a pirate. His arm muscles were bulging from his muscle tee, and Jim could make out a heart tattoo on his right arm with two sets of initials in it, but from this distance he couldn’t make them out. But at this moment, Jim was too shocked to care about the man’s tattoo...

...because he was staring right into his own face.

Bones’s flames flickered away as the rough looking Jim approached him. Spock grabbed Jim’s arms and held them behind his back as his double learned toward him.

“Welcome to _my_ world, James Kirk.”

The last thing Jim knew before blacking out was his own fist punching him in the face.


	3. You Can't Handle The Truth

Spock and Bones burst into the vice principal’s office. Spock grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and _slammed_ him against the wall. “What do you know?” Spock growled.

Lorca glared back. “I think you need to _cool off_, Grayson.” His hands began to emit frost...

“I don’t think so.” Bones slapped a pair of power-neutralizing handcuffs on his wrists. Bones leaned toward him, scowling. “No more Mister Ice Guy. Tell us what’s going on.”

Lorca rolled his eyes. “The high for today is 73, it’s partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain, and the lunch special in the cafeteria is mini-corndogs. Be more specific!”

“Principal Georgiou,” Nyota said, stepping forward. “She’s been missing for over a year and you’re the only one who knows where she is.”

“And now our friend is missing,” Sulu said. “And we get the feeling that it’s connected.”

“Weird things are goin’ on, an’ we want some answers,” Scotty interjected.

Lorca rolled his eyes. “Look, kiddies, I know going to this school has given you a hero complex, but for once, why don’t you take a seat and let the _adults_ handle shit. If there’s something strange in the neighborhood, we can handle it.”

Nyota threw the printouts of Lorca’s obituary on the desk. “Explain how a _dead man_ can ‘handle it.’”

Lorca’s eyes widened at the article, then narrowed. “You’ve been snooping into my past?” he snarled.

“I seriously doubt it’s _your_ past,” Spock said. “And just so you know, Mr. Sisko can corroborate our story. So unless you want this information to pass to the entire faculty and student body, I _suggest_ you start giving us answers.” He gave Lorca a cold look.

Lorca snorted. “Damn. Even in _this_ universe, you have that same dumb glare.”

“What do you mean, _this_ universe?” Bones said.

Lorca rolled his eyes. “Okay. Let’s start from the very beginning.”

“A wery good place to start,” Pavel added.

Lorca glared at him. Pavel gulped. “Sorry. Continue, please.”

Lorca rolled his eyes. “_Anyway._ First thing you should know is...I _am_ Gabriel Lorca. Just...not the one from this universe.”

“So what, you’re from another dimension?” Sulu asked.

“Basically. My world is sort of a...mirror to yours.” Lorca looked around, snorting. “Your world is a _creampuff _compared to mine.”

“So you came here and killed the other Lorca to take his place?” Spock surmised. “And you killed Georgiou?”

“What? No,” Lorca scoffed. “I’m a lot of things, but a killer I ain’t. Your precious principal is in my world. And the other me was already dead when I escaped here. Believe me, I did my research when I decided to start over here. Apparently he was a normie. Which is weird, since I have powers. But I guess, alternate universes, something’s gotta be different...”

“How did Principal Georgiou end up in your...mirror uniwerse?” Pavel asked.

“Don’t look at me, I’m not a scientist,” Lorca shrugged. “She just appeared one day. We figured it must be a glitch in the Device, causing spatial anomalies. Tiny fissures in the fabric of reality, letting things through from the other side. If things are really disappearing, then she must be playing with the Device again, getting ready for an invasion.”

“Device...what device?” Spock asked.

“The Empress--in my world, we’re ruled by an Empress--she figured there must be other parallel worlds out there with Supers, whose powers she could harness to supercharge her Imperial Army. So she had a scientist by the name of Kirk build the Device so she could send sentries through to the other worlds. That’s how I escaped to this world, through the Device.”

_Kirk_. Spock and Bones shared a look, then Spock looked back at the fake vice principal. “So you said you escaped here. What were you running from?” Spock asked.

“The Empress. She was pretty pissed at me after I tried to stage a coup,” Lorca said.

“So that’s where Jim is?” Bones said. “In your Mirrorverse?”

“What, he’s not here in the Sissyverse?”

Everyone looked at him questioningly.

“Oh what, I can’t make up nicknames for your universe?” Lorca said. “Look, if your little boyfriend really has disappeared, the..._Mirrorverse_ is your best bet.”

“Then that’s it,” said Spock, turning to the gang. “We’re going to this Mirrorverse and getting Jim back.”

Lorca snorted. “Slow your roll, Dudley Do-Right. Just how do you think you’re gonna get to the other side? The door only swings one way. Unless you have a dimension jumping device of your own in storage.”

“We’re kind of S.O.L. there, Grayson,” Bones said.

“If _any_ one of us was in peril, Jim wouldn’t give up on us,” Spock persisted. “I will not give up on him.”

“Hey, I ain’t givin’ up on him either, nerd,” Bones said, patting his shoulder. “All I’m sayin’ is that we have an obstacle in our way.”

“Maybe Dr. Kirk can help,” Nyota suggested. “She’s an astrophysicist. She understands the universe and relativity and all that junk.”

“Not to mention she’s Jim’s mom,” Sulu said. “She’ll want to get her boy back.”

“We have no idea what they could be doing to Jim over there,” Spock said. “Time is of the essence. Let’s go and talk to her.”

“Don’t you little shits have _class?_” Lorca snapped.

“Not when one of our friends is in trouble,” Spock said, pulling Lorca to his feet by the back of his shirt. “You’re coming with us. Let’s go to the bus.”

Sulu tossed his keys in the air and caught them playfully. “I’m ready!”

“When I get out of these handcuffs,” Lorca growled as they escorted him out of the office, “I’m putting _all_ your asses in detention for a _month!_”

* * *

Winona’s face was grey as the gang explained the situation to her. “My son’s in some parallel evil universe?” she said.

“Yes, but we think you can help us rescue him,” Spock said. “Lorca described a Device to us that was invented with the intent of crossing universes. We think you could recreate it so we’ll have a passage to the Mirrorverse.”

“Crossing universes...the theory that it’s possible has always been in place, but to actually put it into practice...the fabric of reality could rip itself apart,” Winona postulated.

“I think it already is,” Spock said. “The amp, Jim and Georgiou’s disappearances...I believe these anomalies are only going to increase in commonality. And soon the Empress will be sending her forces to our world to take more Supers. But perhaps, if we build a gateway to the other side, we can destroy the Empress’s Device to prevent more damage to the fabric of reality. Not to mention rescue Jim and the principal.”

Winona looked at Lorca. “You said _I_ built this ‘Device’ in the Mirrorverse?” she asked.

“Nah. It was a scientist named Kirk alright, but it was a man.”

Winona’s eyebrows knit together. “What was his name?” she asked softly.

“Dunno. Never met the guy.”

Winona bit her lip. “Maybe...I could reconstruct this Device. What kind of power did it use?”

“I dunno, batteries?” Lorca rolled his eyes. “I’m a vice principal, not a scientist, lady.”

“Nuclear fission,” Spock said suddenly.

Winona looked him. “Huh?”

“The amp...today it reappeared in the Mad Science Lab when Dr. Daystrom was leading us in an exercise of splitting atoms. The Device must work by nuclear fission.”

“No wonder it’s so unstable,” Winona said. “I think I can design it, but I’ll need help. Dr. Daystrom might be of assistance, and you, Spock...and Scotty, aren’t you a technopath?”

“Ah, more o’ a ‘tech whisperer’.”

“Good enough. Let’s go to the Academy, Daystrom will have the materials we’ll need,” Winona said, grabbing her purse. She scowled. “I’m getting my baby back.”

“I feel like a dog on a leash,” Lorca complained as Spock dragged him back to the bus.

* * *

Jim sluggishly awoke to the sensation of his wrists being clasped in power-neutralizing handcuffs and the sight of his own face smirking at him.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Mirror Jim sang tauntingly. “Her Imperiousness wants a word with you.”

Jim barely had time to blink before being dragged to his feet by two sets of hands. Jim’s head darted side to side to see that it was Spock and Bones. “Guys, what is going on?!” Jim exclaimed.

“Better hold your tongue, James Kirk,” said Spock, in a tone that sounded firm yet...caring. “Before the Empress, you would do well to speak only when spoken to. Or you’ll be punished.”

Jim looked at Bones desperately, who gave him a reluctant nod. Then Bones murmured, “Here. You’re hurt...”

Bones gently brushed his thumb over the corner of Jim’s mouth, which he realized was sore and dribbling blood from where his...twin? had punched him. Bones’s healing touch made the sting fade and the swelling dissipate. Jim blushed. Even in this topsy turvy savage world he had so abruptly found himself in, Spock and Bones were still loving with him. It made him feel better. “Thanks,” he whispered.

“If you’re done flirting,” the other Jim said, his jaw clenched...almost in a _jealous_ way... “Here comes the Empress.”

Jim heard heavy footfalls coming up behind him, but couldn’t twist his head enough to see. He then realized he was standing in what was supposed to be the cafeteria, but it had been redecorated with the same ominous color scheme, and a giant throne had been implemented in the center of the room.

“Out of my way,” snarled a voice behind them, and Spock and Bones pulled Jim aside. And finally, as she passed by, Jim got a look at the Empress. He gasped. “Principal Georgiou!” he exclaimed.

Georgiou froze and looked at him sharply. Then she smacked in the face with the back of her hand. “You will address me as _Empress_ or _Your Imperial Majesty_,” she hissed. “I will not tolerate insolence.”

Georgiou was dressed head to toe in gold, from her breastplate to her long train flowing behind her. The Empress swept it aside as she sat upon the grand throne. She looked at Jim with a cold eye. “Well well well. What have we here?” She looked at Spock. “Explain.”

“I...he does _appear_ to be James Kirk in every way, apart from a few key aesthetics, your Imperial Majesty,” Spock said, pushing his blue-tinted spectacles up his nose. (_He must be nervous_, Jim couldn’t help but think.) “Bashir and Kira, the guards on duty at the time he came through the Device, reported that he exhibited the same powers as the James of our world as well. However, we would have to run scientific tests to be sure if the DNA-”

“Unnecessary,” Georgiou said with a flippant hand wave. “I know what he is. He’s from the _other_ world...same as the other one.”

“What other one?” Jim blurted. Then he quickly added, “your Majesty.”

Georgiou narrowed her eyes at him. “You will tell me how you came to be here.”

“I’d like to know myself!” Jim said. “One minute I was in the library with my friends, and then suddenly I wasn’t!”

“A likely story,” Georgiou sneered. “Admit it. Your people have somehow copied my Device, to invade my world and take its resources. When the first operative you sent never returned, you decided to send a second.”

_“What?!”_ Jim exclaimed. “What are you talking about?”

“You think I’m a _fool?_ I know your mission here. Confess!”

“Uh, Empress?” said Bones cautiously. “Ain’t it possible that him showing up here really is just a mistake? Like that other one said? After all, Dr. Kirk did say the Device was causing anomalies in reality-”

“And I say, Dr. Kirk is a treasonous heretic simply trying to upend my sovereignty with propaganda and alternative facts! There is _no_ scientific evidence that reality change is really occurring...that we can trust. Our neighboring universe is smuggling people in through the Device somehow. This is an _invasion_, plain and simple.”

“Pardon me, _your Majesty_,” Jim scoffed. “But why precisely would anyone in their right mind want to come to your shit universe?”

Everyone gasped.

Mirror Jim stomped over and punched Jim hard in the stomach. “You keep your mouth shut, cheerleader,” he growled.

“All I’m saying is...” Jim gasped, keeled over in pain. “People from my world have sense enough _not_ to want to live under a fascist dictator.”

Mirror Jim reared back to punch him again, but the Empress said, “Enough. I’ve had my fill of this. The spy will talk when he’s ready. For now, take him to the cells with our other...guests.”

“We’ll take him,” Spock said, helping Jim up. “Come, Leonard.”

The two dragged Jim quickly from the room. “I told you not to mouth off,” Spock scolded as soon as they were out of earshot. “At least _our_ James is wise enough to play nice with the Empress.”

“Well at least _my_ Spock and Bones wouldn’t kowtow to an evil ruler like her!” Jim hissed. “What’s wrong with you two? Hell, what’s wrong with _me?_ What’s wrong with this whole insane universe?!”

“Well pardon us, sunshine, but we prefer surviving to dying a slow, torturous death,” Bones huffed.

“She’s just a _bully_. That’s all she is. If all her supporters stopped protecting her, she’d be as good as powerless.”

“Cease that kind of talk,” Spock whispered urgently. “Any hint of mutiny and the Empress would bring her wrath down upon us.”

Jim looked at him sadly. “You know Spock, I never would have expected this from you. You’ve always been so brave, so upright. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so in love with the other you.”

Spock blushed, averting his eyes.

“And you...” Jim looked at Bones. “Since when do you just go with the system? You’ve always been a rebel, never doing what anyone expected of you. When the whole world thought you were rotten to the core, you proved them all wrong. I could see the goodness in you...”

Bones refused to look at him.

“You two may have their names and faces...but you’re _nothing_ like the Spock and Bones I know. You’re _cowards_.”

Neither one spoke. They halted in front of a big heavy door with no handle. In Jim’s world it was the detention room, but it had been modified from a simple room with desks to a huge hall full of dingy cells. Spock put his hand on a biometrics panel by the door, and it slid open. “Come on,” he said softly, nudging Jim forward.

They marched through the corridor, and something caught Jim’s eye as they passed by. “Principal Georgiou?” he gasped, halting in place.

The dark haired woman looked up. She was dirty and disheveled, and her pantsuit was falling to rags, but it was unmistakably her. “Kirk?” Georgiou said warily.

“It’s really me!” Jim said. “I helped beat Nexus at Homecoming two years ago, remember? And then I helped stop Khan from taking over half the student body!”

“How did you get here?” Georgiou asked.

“Same way you did. Accident. It’s good to know you’re okay.”

Bones tugged gently on his arm. “Come on...”

“My friends’ll get us out of here, Ms. Georgiou,” Jim called over his shoulder as he was pulled away. “They’ll save the day like always—you’ll see!”

Down the hall, Spock opened a cell with another handscan. “This one has an empty bed. You can stay here.”

Jim let them take the cuffs off and went inside. He looked back at the two of them. “I know deep down you’re good people. You’re heroes...and I don’t just mean Power Placement.”

Spock and Bones looked somberly at each other, then locked the cell door.

Jim sighed and sat down on the empty cot. “Okay. No powers in here. Gotta _think_ your way out, Kirk.”

“You talkin’ to me?” grunted the lump lying under the blanket on the other cot. The lump rolled over to reveal a gaunt looking man with dark hair and a dark scraggly beard. It was clear he was a big man once, but was now withered probably from malnutrition. He looked straight at Jim and his eyes widened. “_Jim?_ What are you doin’ in here?”

Jim stared back in utter shock. He hadn’t seen this man in ten years, but he’d know him anywhere. A lump rose up in his throat.

“_Dad_.”


	4. Strangers in a Strange Land

“I can’t believe I never thought of it before now!” said Winona as they all stood back at stared at the Device 2.0. “Nuclear fission to create gaps in the fabric of reality! Like going at the stitching of a dress with a seam ripper!”

“It took the scientist who built it from my universe six months to come up with that,” said Lorca. “And our guy didn’t have help.”

“Of course we have to be careful when using the, er...Device,” said Dr. Daystrom. “To expand on Dr. Kirk’s analogy, too many seams undone might cause the fabric to unravel entirely.”

“The plan is to cross to the other side, rescue Jim and Principal Georgiou, destroy their Device, and then get back here and destroy our own as well. That should make the anomalies cease,” Spock said.

“But doesn’t ze Device only vork vun vay?” Pavel pointed out. “If ve destroy zeir Device, von’t ve be stuck in ze Mirrorwerse?”

“That’s where I come in, laddie,” said Scotty, stepping forward. “While the scientists were buildin’ our ride to the other side, me an’ Bones ‘ave been workin’ on this. It’s a miniature explosive, set to go off five minutes after activation. We attach this to their Device, turn it on just before we escape through it, and we’re home free!”

“That’s so clever, baby,” Nyota said proudly.

“Ach, I wish I could take credit for the idea. But I only worked on the design. Twas all Bones’s conception.”

Spock looked at Bones. “Really?”

Bones snorted. “Don’t sound so surprised, nerd.”

“That’s not what I...never mind.”

“So, when do we leave?” said Hikaru, rubbing his hands together.

“No time like the present,” Spock said, staring at the Device 2.0.

“What, right now?” Nyota said. “Don’t you think we should like, prepare ourselves or something?”

“For what? We’ve no idea what to expect on the other side except for the vague outline Lorca’s given us. We have superpowers, so it’s not like we need weapons. What is the purpose in waiting?”

“I’m with Spock, odd as it may seem,” Bones added. “God only knows what they’re doin’ to Jim over there. The sooner we’re in, the sooner we’re out.”

“But we haven’t even tested the Device,” Winona said. “What if it vaporizes us? Or what if it drops us off in a volcano or the bottom of the ocean...or in the middle of the sky? There’s no assurance where we’ll come out on the other side.”

“That’s why we’ll send a guinea pig through first,” Spock replied.

Pavel gasped. “Not a cute little guinea pig!”

“Not an actual guinea pig, Pasha.”

“Oh.” Pavel sighed in relief.

“Then what did you have in mind?” Daystrom asked.

Spock looked at Lorca.

Lorca grit his teeth. “Oh _hell_ no. You’re outta your goddamn mind if you think I’m goin’ back to that place, much less as your test dummy!”

“You don’t really have any choice, do you?” Spock said, indicating to his handcuffs. “You’re going through first, and then I’ll follow you, since I’ll be invulnerable to whatever’s on the other side.”

“If you’re invulnerable then why don’t you just go through first?!” Lorca barked.

“Because this whole mess is your people’s fault. Anything that happens to Jim is _your_ responsibility.” Spock pushed Lorca toward the Device. “Dr. Kirk, turn on the Device please.”

Winona looked unsure, but pulled a lever. Suddenly a patch of empty space beside it began to bend and wave unnaturally. Spock pushed Lorca again. “Go on. I’m right behind you.”

Lorca glared at him, then swallowed nervously and carefully put one foot through the distortion. It disappeared. “I can feel solid ground. So far so good,” Lorca muttered.

Spock held onto his shoulder as Lorca slowly crossed over, his body disappearing from sight inch by inch as it passed through the portal. Suddenly, Spock felt a hand grab his free one. Spock looked behind him to see that it was Bones, who grinned at him. “Think I’m letting you get all the hero points, Grayson?”

Spock grinned back. Then as Lorca disappeared entirely, Spock felt himself start to be pulled through.

One second Spock was standing in the Mad Science Lab. The next he was standing in the middle of a bleak field of yellow grass, a light grey sky about him. “Is this it?” Spock said to Lorca, as Bones appeared beside him. “Is this your world?”

“Looks about right,” Lorca said. “Dunno where the hell we are in it, though.”

“Looks like we ain’t far from the city. There it is over there,” said Bones, pointing. “And that’s the bridge.”

“The Empress’s palace is in the same place as the school,” Lorca said. “She likes to train her soldiers close to home.”

“Are the others coming?” Spock said, looking over his shoulder.

Just then, Winona, Pavel, Sulu, Nyota, and Scotty emerged from the distortion. “I can’t believe it works,” Winona gasped. “Interdimensional travel is something modern science has only dreamed of!”

“Yeah yeah yeah, congratulations, Tesla,” said Lorca impatiently. “I just hope this little plan of yours doesn’t get the whole multiverse blown up.”

“We won’t be here long,” Spock said. “We’ll find Jim, and shut down the Device.”

“First we gotta get into the Fortress, genius. How exactly do you plan to do that?”

“Easy. Dr. Kirk can teleport us.”

“Wrong,” Lorca snorted. “The Fortress has a force field around it. No one can teleport _or_ fly in. The only way you get in is by school bus.”

“Then we have to find a bus,” Spock said. He smiled. “And I know just where to find one.”

* * *

George Kirk blinked at Jim. “Wait. You’re not..._my_ James, are you.”

Jim’s stomach tightened into a knot. “No...I guess not,” he muttered.

“I _told_ Georgiou that played with the Device would have unpredictable consequences,” George sighed. “So you’re from another world, then?”

Jim nodded silently.

George looked him over. “You’re awfully...clean. Like, squeaky clean. Do you even have any tattoos?”

Jim shook his head. “N-no. I’m only 17, and besides, Mom would _kill_ me if I got a tattoo.”

George froze. “Your...mother? She’s...alive?” he said in a weak voice.

Jim nodded again, throat dry. “Yeah. Is she...not? Here?”

“Yeah...she, uh...” George sniffled. “She died, 10 years ago. Car accident.”

“That’s how _my_ dad died,” Jim said. “In my world.”

“Oh...” George gave him a look as if he wanted to give him a bear hug and not let go for a while. “I’m so sorry. So you lost your dad and my Jim lost his mom.”

“I guess not everything’s the same in this world. _Clearly_.” Jim laughed without humor. Then he looked up. “Wait, what are _you_ doing in here?”

“Her Imperiousness locked me up for treason,” said George, frowning sourly. “The Device I built, for traveling between dimensions...I realized it was dangerous, so I tried to shut it down. The Empress caught me and put me in here to rot. And now my own son won’t speak to me because I’m a traitor. I guess if you’re here then it means she’s been playing around with it again.”

Jim’s eyes began to water. “Am I ever gonna get to go home again? I miss my mom...and my boyfriend...and my friends.”

“Oh, son...” George sighed and opened his arms. Jim jumped from his cot and ran into his not-father’s arms, beginning to cry.

“Dad...what are we going to do?”

* * *

“So is there a reason why the Doc can’t just teleport us to the dropoff?” Lorca complained as they trudged through the city. It was less...shiny than Spock remembered. More grime and grit. Definitely more graffiti.

“Dr. Kirk cannae teleport that many people at one time,” Scotty replied.

“So go in groups!”

“We’re _not_ splitting up,” said Uhura sharply.

“Fine, then Coach here should Godzilla up and carry the rest of us there. It’ll probably only take him ten steps.”

“That is _racist!_” Hikaru hissed.

“And besides, we’re supposed to be _not_ attracting attention to ourselves,” Spock added. “A giant man stomping through the city would _definitely_ draw attention.”

“If non-conspicuous is what you’re going for, then you’re failing miserably,” Lorca said, rolling his eyes. “You’re wearing a goddamn _sweater vest_. The only ones who do fit in are James Dean and the Queen of Darkness over here.”

“That’s _super_ racist!” Nyota exclaimed.

“It’s ‘cause you’re a goth, love, not because you’re black,” Scotty muttered.

“Oh,” said Nyota, blushing.

“We don’t have any other clothes. What do you expect us to do?” Spock said to Lorca, crossing his arms.

“Vell ve could go...shopping,” said Pavel slowly.

Everyone looked at him.

Pavel shrugged. “Do any of you have a better idea?”

The group looked at each other questioningly. Then Bones sighed. “Maybe the squirt has a point. You guys do kinda stick out.”

“We don’t have time for a shopping spree,” Spock said, glaring. “The more time we waste is the more time Jim could be in danger.”

“I care about Jim too, ya know! And the Search and Rescue party ain’t much good to him if they end up getting captured or murdered because they clearly don’t belong here!”

“We have _superpowers_, we can fight our way out if such a situation arises!”

“We ain’t the only ones with powers, poindexter! Why do we always have to do what _you_ say?!”

“Because I’m _right!_” Spock shouted.

“GUYS!” Nyota exclaimed, getting between them. They’d gotten into each other’s faces. “All the yelling? _Not_ helping us blend in!”

Spock and Bones glared at each other, then looked away. “Fine,” said Spock through gritted teeth. “We’ll get some clothes to camouflage ourselves. _Quickly_.”

“Zere’s a consignment shop right over zere,” said Pavel, pointing across the street. “Ve should be able to find somezing suitable in zere.”

They darted over to the shop and ran in. Rows and rows of mostly black clothes greeted them.

“You know, this dimension isn’t so bad,” Nyota said appreciatively.

Everyone split up to find clothes, and Spock found himself being tugged by his elbow toward the men’s section by Bones. “What are you doing?” Spock hissed.

“Something I never thought I’d do--giving you fashion advice. You couldn’t dress yourself to save your life, and right now, that’s exactly what you need to do.” Bones looked Spock over. “What are you, a medium? You’re so _skinny_...”

“I _don’t_ need your help,” Spock huffed.

Bones looked at him incredulously. “Uh, _yeah_, ya _do_. Trust me on this. Now...” Bones thumbed through the racks. “Lessee...this...and this...what’s your pants size?”

Bones loaded up his arms with clothes. “Here, go try these on. Go!” He shooed Spock toward the dressing rooms.

Spock begrudgingly put the clothes on Bones had picked out for him and stepped out. “Well? Do I get your seal of approval?” he scoffed.

Bones’s eyes widened. “Uhh...”

Spock was wearing a white button up underneath a double breasted black leather jacket, with grey pre-ripped skinny jeans. Amazingly, it still somehow was _his_ style while being a far cry from his usual attire.

Bones coughed. “Yeah, uh...you...you look good. I guess.” He looked away, cheeks turning bright red.

Spock studied himself in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised. “Well...I...I guess I don’t look _so_ bad...”

Ten minutes later the gang paid and rolled out of the shop, clad in black and grunge and leather. “You look like the frickin’ Outsiders,” said Lorca, rolling his eyes. “But it’ll do, I guess. Come on.”

“I wish Jim were here,” Hikaru sighed. He was wearing a raggedy blue jean vest over a dark grey muscle shirt, with black fingerless leather gloves and a green bandana tied around his head. “He could use his powers to speed up this walk.”

Suddenly Scotty’s eyes lit up. “Say...we don’t necessarily hafta walk the whole way! Hold on a sec...”

Scotty bent down and touched the metal trolley rail in the street. After several seconds, a car pulled over the hill and stopped on the street beside them. The conductor looked confused as hell.

Scotty grinned at his friends. “All aboard!”

* * *

Jim and George were deep in conversation when the cell door slid open. There stood the _other_ Jim, arms crossed impatiently. It made his muscles bulge out even more.

“I want to talk,” he said to Jim, avoiding eye contact with his father.

Jim stood up. “And what if I don’t want to talk?” he snapped.

James rolled his eyes and grabbed Jim by the ear, towing him out of the cell. “Ow, _ow, OW!_” Jim whined.

James let go of his ear once they were outside the cell and said sharply, “Look, I’m sure you have questions, and so do I. So work with me, Kirk. I’ll answer yours if you answer mine. _Quid pro quo_. You think the Empress is gonna give you a better deal?”

Jim glared at him, unmoved.

“Not to mention, I know you must be getting hungry.”

Jim’s stomach gurgled, as if right on cue. Jim scowled. “How did you know that?”

James grinned wryly. “We run on the same biological clock, cheerleader. If it’s lunchtime for me, it’s lunchtime for you. And believe me, you’d _much_ prefer what I’m offering compared to the flavorless slop we give the prisoners.”

Jim sighed in defeat. “_Alright_. I’ll answer your damn questions. But that does _not_ mean we’re friends!”

James scoffed. “_Psh_. Duh.”

As James turned away, Jim finally got a good look at the tatt on his bicep. It was a heart, with two sets of initials inside. _SHG_ and _LHM_.

Jim’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word. He simply followed after his more savage counterpart out of the catacombs.


	5. I Hardly Recognize Myself

Jim sat across from his own reflection, arms crossed and scowling. James on the other hand seemed perfectly relaxed, almost amused with the whole situation.

“Go ahead, eat. I know it’s your favorite.”

Jim looked at the delicious bacon cheeseburger sitting in front of him. It was _one_ of his favorite foods, true, but his number one favorite food was his mom’s baked macaroni and cheese with bits of hot dog and bacon sprinkled in. But then Jim guessed his other self didn’t get to eat his mom’s cooking all that often. Or, ever. Jim picked up the burger and dug in.

“So I guess I’ll go first,” James continued. “How’d you get here? I mean really.”

Jim swallowed. “I told you. It was an accident.”

“Well I know it wasn’t a covert infiltration. You’re not spy material. Just a helpless dumbass.”

Jim glared at him. “Dad told me all about the Device. He said it’s messing with the space/time continuum.”

James scowled at his lap. “That traitor doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“I think he does...and so do you.”

James refused to look at him.

“You _know_ Dad’s right. Why won’t you go talk to him? You’re _lucky_ to have a dad who cares about you...who’s still alive,” Jim added under his breath.

James stared at him. “Is that your question? Why I have _daddy issues_?”

“No.”

“Okay then. So ask away.”

“Okay. How can you work for someone as awful as Georgiou? She’s evil!”

James rolled his eyes. “You make it sound like I have a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” Jim said sternly.

“So naïve,” James chuckled. “I’m just one guy. Georgiou has an _army_ that she’d be more than happy to send after me if I defected.”

“So? Why do _they_ work for her? A reign of terror can’t sustain itself. Sooner or later people are gonna get sick of living under a dictator. It happened with Napoleon. It happened with Scar from _The Lion King_.”

“What the hell is _The Lion King_.”

Jim’s jaw dropped. “You don’t have Disney movies in this universe?! Things are making a lot more sense now.”

“Okay, my turn. Do you happen to know a man by the name of Gabriel Lorca?”

Jim’s eyes widened. “Is this where he came from? We were investigating him when I disappeared!”

“Oh I know him alright. Thanks to him, I got a promotion. Son of a bitch tried to assassinate Georgiou so he could become Emperor. When his plan failed, he made tracks. Guess he used the Device to escape to your world. Anyway...your turn.”

Jim could’ve asked a thousand questions. But there was one in particular burning on his tongue.

“Your tattoo...”

“Which one?”

“You have _more_ than one? Never mind. The one on your arm—the heart.”

“Yeah? What’s it to you?”

“Those initials...do they stand for what I think they stand for?”

“Spock Harold Grayson and Leonard Horatio McCoy. They’re my boyfriends,” said James, like it was obvious.

Jim coughed, choking on his orange soda. “I’m sorry, boyfriend_s_? As in _plural_?”

“Yeah,” said James, shrugging.

“And they’re okay with it?”

“Spock and Bones? Yeah. We’re _all_ together, the three of us.”

“So Spock and Bones date each other too? As well as me? Er, you?”

“Yeah. We’re a throuple. What, polyamory doesn’t exist in your universe or something?”

“Well...it _does_, but...”

The idea had just never really occurred to Jim, to be honest. He thought in cases like his, you _had_ to choose one or the other. After all, Bella chose Edward over Jacob. Katniss chose Peeta over Gayle. Steve chose Bucky over Tony.

“But Bones and Spock...they don’t feel that way about each other. They fight like cats and dogs!”

James laughed. “You really are an idiot. Bickering? That’s just foreplay for them. Admittedly, it did take them a long time to pull their heads out of their asses and admit that they were totally hot for each other. But once they did...” James grinned devilishly. “My sex life got a whole lot more exciting.”

Jim blushed. “But do you _love_ them?” he asked. “Or is it just sex?”

“Of course I _love_ them,” James said, almost angry that Jim had to ask. “You think I’d’ve gotten their initials inked on me if I didn’t? They’re my friggin’ soulmates. I’d die for them. I’d _kill_ for them.”

Jim was shocked. He wasn’t sure if this darker version of himself was capable of love, but the passionate flame in his eyes was more than enough to convince him.

“So I take it you’re not with your Bones and Spock?” James asked.

“Oh well, I’m with Spock. Bones is just a friend.”

“Uh huh...” James looked at him skeptically.

Jim’s face heated up. “Okay, maybe Bones and I have feelings for each other. But my Spock and Bones? They’d never be into each other.”

* * *

“We’re almost at the pickup point,” Lorca said over his shoulder to the students and Winona sitting behind him. “Look alive.”

Spock stared out the window, looking past the edgier versions of the gleaming city buildings he knew. His mind was a million miles away. He didn’t even notice when someone slipped into the seat behind him.

“Hey. We’re gonna find him.”

Spock looked up and turned to Bones. “How did you know what I’m thinking?”

“‘Cause I _know_ you, nerd. You’re pretty predictable,” Bones chortled. Then he softened. “And because I’m thinkin’ the same thing.”

Spock shook his head. “This world...Jim doesn’t belong here. It’s too rough and abrasive...”

Bones snorted. “You mean, like me.”

Spock looked down at his lap. “You’re not so bad,” he murmured.

“_What_ was that?” Bones said, a teasing edge to his voice. “Did you just _compliment_ me?”

“Don’t let it go to your head. It’s just that...I know you like to think you’re this unapproachable badass. But you’ve let us...let _me_...see the softer side of you. You care about people. You want to help them. You wouldn’t be studying to go to medical school if you didn’t.”

“Did Jim tell you that?” Bones asked in surprise.

“He didn’t have to. You think I don’t notice that you’re always reading medical texts in your spare time?”

A smile played on Bones’s lips. “You _notice_ me, huh?”

“Ugh, never mind, I take it back.” Spock bumped him gently with his shoulder. “You’re insufferable.”

“Yeah but sometimes you think I’m alright.”

Spock slowly smiled, recognizing the reference. “Maybe,” he replied. “When you’re not being a scoundrel.”

“_Scoundrel?_” Bones repeated. He grinned. “I like the sound of that...”

Suddenly they seemed to realize what they were doing--where the scene they were reenacting was _leading_\--blushed, and frowned, quickly jerking away from each other. “We need to get Jim back,” Bones muttered.

“Agreed,” Spock said, his face burning. What was _happening_ to him?

The trolley rolled to a stop and Lorca stood up, the rest of the gang following suit. “We’re close enough to the dropoff point now,” said Spock, looking around. “And no one is nearby. Hikaru...time to power up.”

Hikaru grinned. “Finally!”

Everyone backed away as he began to grow. Soon he was ten feet tall...twenty...fifty...a hundred...

Spock flew up to Hikaru’s eye level--nearly 130 feet in the air. Hikaru held out his palm for Spock to light upon: his index finger was now half a foot longer than the length of Spock’s whole body. Spock nodded approvingly up at his giant friend. “_Looking good, Hikaru!_” he shouted. “_Now all we have to do is wait for a bus to come!_”

“I think I hear one coming up the overpass,” Hikaru said under his breath--his normal voice was now thundering; he had to lower it as not to deafen his tiny friend. “Get ready.”

Sure enough, a yellow bus shot over the edge of the overpass--compared to Hikaru’s magnitude, the bus looked like a pillow with wheels as Hikaru snatched it out of the air before it could ignite its boosters.

Spock wrenched the doors open and looked into the face of the startled driver. “Get up,” he commanded.

The bus driver nodded and slowly got out of his seat. Spock turned off the ignition, then grabbed the driver and dove out the door with him. The driver screamed, but Spock set him safely on the ground, then rushed away back to his friends. The driver stayed rooted to the spot in terror for several moments.

Hikaru had set the bus on the ground near their group and was shrinking back down to his normal size. “Whoo--head rush,” Hikaru said, touching his forehead. “Never been that big before. Spock, you looked like a butterfly!”

Bones snickered and Spock gave him a half-hearted glare. “Okay, everyone, on the bus. Next stop, Superfleet Academy!”

“Hey, that’s my line!” Hikaru laughed as they hopped aboard.

* * *

“So...what else do you want to know?” Jim asked, having polished off the burger and fries long ago. James had asked a million questions about his world, his friends, his school.

“Just one...” James leaned forward. “What’s your plan of escape?”

Jim blinked. “I don’t have one.”

“Oh come on. If you really are _me_, then you’re not really gonna just sit around in a cell, are you?”

Jim shrugged, looking away.

“Ah, I see. You don’t have a plan yet. Fair enough. Well, I could be persuaded to ask Georgiou to let you out of your cell...”

Jim looked at himself suspiciously. “And what do you want in return?”

James grinned devilishly, then shrugged as if he had no idea what he could want...even though it was clear he did. “Well...” He lowered his voice to an alluring growl. “I _have_ always wondered how tight my ass would feel wrapped around my own cock.”

Jim turned bright red. “Oh my God, _no!_”

“Oh come on!” James laughed. “You wouldn’t fuck your clone?”

“I...I...I have a boyfriend,” Jim stammered.

“And I have two. Big deal. They’d be _very_ much in approval of this.”

“Well _my_ Spock wouldn’t!” Jim exclaimed. “It’d be like cheating!”

“With _yourself!_ It’s basically masturbation.”

“It is _not_ masturbation. You’re a completely different person from me! And-and you’re evil!”

James laughed again. “Okay, okay, relax. I’m not pressuring you to do anything. I prefer enthusiastic consent from my partners. I mostly just wanted to see how you’d react. Although...” His gaze became heated again. “You are pretty adorable. Sex with you would be like despoiling a virgin.”

Jim frowned. “I’m not a virgin.”

“Well, good for you then. But I have to know...if your Spock weren’t in the picture...or if you know it’d be okay with him...would you let me fuck you?” James raised a mischievous eyebrow. “Or fuck me? I’m not picky.”

Jim averted his eyes. “Maybe,” he mumbled shyly.

James crossed his muscular arms, smiling in triumph. “I knew it. Welp...this has been fun. But all good things...”

Jim nodded and stood up obediently, and James led him back to the cells by his cuffed wrists.

“You know what I think?” Jim said to the back of his own head. “I think you’re not really evil at all. I think deep down, you’re really a good person.”

James snorted. “You are a naive little bastard, aren’t you?”

“Naive maybe...” Jim said as his twin opened the door with his handprint. “But not stupid.” With a grunt, he swung his wrists and knocked James hard in the head with his heavy metal cuffs. With an identical grunt, James fell to the floor, unconscious. Jim dug the key to his cuffs out of his pocket, freed himself, then ran inside.

“Jim?” said Principal Georgiou as he skid to a halt in front of her door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have you out in a jiffy!” _God I hope this works,_ Jim added silently to himself. He pressed his hand to the handscanner to Georgiou’s cell. Jim held his breath as the biometrics processed...then the pad turned green and the cell slid open. “Yes!” Jim exclaimed.

“Good job, Kirk,” said Georgiou, coming out of her cage (and doing just fine). “Now let’s go.”

“Wait! I gotta let someone else out too!” Jim yelped, running down the corridor. “Then we’ll all escape together!”

Jim raced to his and his father’s cell and opened it. “Dad!” he cried. “We’re escaping! Let’s go!”

George, bewildered, got up from his cot and followed after his son.

Jim, George, and the principal burst from the detention center out into the corridor, where Jim’s double was stirring. “Hey!” James snarled, raising his hand to freeze them in place-

But George was too quick, grabbing Jim and Georgiou’s shoulders, teleporting them out of there. They reappeared in the foyer of the Academy, where there was a huge, gaudy, golden statue of the Empress in the center. Georgiou wrinkled her nose at her likeness. “Well that’s just tacky,” she said.

“Dad, you have _powers?!_” Jim said, shocked.

“Yeah...didn’t the George Kirk from your world teleport?” George asked.

“No. My dad was a normie. My mom’s the teleporter.”

“Huh. My Winona didn’t have powers. Things really are different in your world.”

“Excuse me,” Georgiou cut in. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kirk, but if I recall correctly, we’re standing in a fortress full of evil supers that are about to come after us!”

“You’re right. Let’s go!”

The three burst through the glass front door and down the steps. But they stopped short when a school bus made a bumpy landing in their path. “Damn!” George shouted.

“Wait, I know that touchdown!” Jim exclaimed in delight.

The doors to the bus swung open and Bones and Spock--_his_ Bones and Spock--came running out, closely followed by everyone else. “Jim!” Bones and Spock cried, throwing their arms around him and hugging him tightly.

“Oh FUCK, am I glad to see you!” Jim gasped.

“James Tiberius Kirk, mind your language!” Winona scolded, striding over.

“Sorry, Mom,” Jim laughed shyly, hugging her too. “What are you all doing here?!”

“We came to rescue you, sunshine,” Bones laughed, ruffling his hair.

“It’s all thanks to your mother,” Spock said. “She’s the one who built the Device.”

“Well, when they told me you were in trouble, I...” Winona caught sight of the man standing some feet behind Jim. George stared back, wide-eyed. Winona was breathless, looking as though she’d seen a ghost. “George?” she squeaked.

George nodded slowly. “Winona...” he breathed, happy tears filling his eyes.

Winona covered her mouth. “Oh my god...” she whispered.

“What a touching reunion,” sneered another voice. Everyone’s head whipped around to the top of the stairs, where Empress Georgiou was standing with her hands on her hips, flanked by the Mirror counterparts of Spock, Bones, Scotty, Nyota, Hikaru, and Chekov. Then James pushed his way to the forefront to stand beside his empress, and he glared at Jim, looking _pissed_.

“Oh my God,” whispered Pavel, staring at their Mirrorselves.

“They’re _us_,” Nyota said, mouth agape.

“Gabriel,” said the Empress, smirking at the man in cuffs. “I see the black sheep has returned to the flock. I must say, bondage looks good on you.”

Lorca glared back.

“We’ve saved you a cell,” said Empress Georgiou, taking a casual step forward. “In fact, there’s room for all of you at _Hotel Philippa_.”

“We’re not scared of you,” Jim said, narrowing his gaze at her. “We outnumber you almost one and a half to one.”

“Lemme at him, your Majesty,” James growled, smacking his fist against his palm. “I owe this cheerleader a knock upside the head.”

“No one threatens my son,” said Winona sternly, taking a step forward. “Not even...my son.”

“No,” said Principal Georgiou, holding out her arm. She strode toward her double, her jaw clenched. “You want a fight so bad, you fight _me_. These are my students, therefore _I’ll_ be the one to protect them.”

The Empress smirked. “Finally, after all these years...a worthy opponent.”

Jim gasped. “Oh my God, Georgiou’s gonna fight herself. This is so badass!” he squeaked excitedly.


	6. Double Trouble

There was a flash of light as Georgiou assumed her comet form. The Empress thrust her scepter at Spock to hold onto, then shifted into comet form too. While Georgiou’s form had a blue halo to it, the Empress’s glowed red.

Georgiou flew at the Empress, and the comets smacked into each other. Their fused auras were almost too bright to look at. Everyone took a step back, shielding their eyes. The comets swirled around each other at breakneck speed, pummeling into each other. It was like watching a snowball fight where the snowballs are the throwers, the ammo, and the targets.

“Can Georgiou bruise in comet form?” Nyota fretted.

One of the comets (it was difficult to tell, it moved so fast) suddenly whipped in a wide arc, swinging back around to slam into the other. The second comet was knocked out of trajectory and went spiraling in the other direction.

“I reckon that was the snowball equivalent of a roundhouse kick,” Mirror Bones muttered.

The swings and impacts became more and more wild and brutal. “Zey’re going to tear each ozzer apart!” Pavel said, aghast.

“Georgiou would do anything to protect her students,” Jim said, watching the brawl fearfully.

“And the Empress would do anything to win a fight,” James added, equally rapt.

Suddenly Georgiou started dodging the Empress’s blows. She zipped by Bones’s left ear.

“_Yaaah!_” Bones cried in surprise, jumping back. A millisecond later, the Empress whipped past as well.

Georgiou came back around and nearly smacked into Bones again, the Empress right on her tail. Bones grit his teeth. “Could you please watch where you’re going?!”

But Georgiou just checked him a third time. This time, Bones paused. “What the hell?” he said.

“What is it?” Jim asked.

“She..._whispered _ something to me,” said Bones in confusion. “How the hell can a comet talk?”

“What did she say?” Spock asked.

“She said, uh..._kobayashi maru._”

“That test graduating seniors have to take?” Jim said. “The simulation where you have to save the baby from the burning building?”

“Yeah. Everyone knows the test is a joke. There’s no way to win. That’s the point of the test: that sometimes you just can’t win.”

Jim shrugged. “If you follow the rules, I suppose.”

Spock looked at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you can win if you cheat. Change the simulation.”

“But that’s not the point of the test.”

Jim shrugged again, grinning. “I don’t believe in no-win scenarios. The circumstances are unfair? Then you have to get unfair too.”

Suddenly something sparked in Spock’s brain. “Wait...that’s it!” He rushed to Bones’s side and whispered in his ear.

As Spock pulled back, a crafty grin formed on Bones’s face. “Sayyyyy...I like the way you think, nerd.”

“I have my moments,” said Spock, smirking at him.

“She’s coming back around!” Jim announced, pointing as the comets barrelled toward Bones again.

Spock looked at Bones. “Ready?”

“I was born ready.”

Georgiou blurred past one more time. Spock jumped back as Bones erupted into blue flames, the Empress flying right into his fiery aura. There was an echoey screech as the comet melted almost instantly.

In a flash of light, Georgiou returned to her human form. She smiled triumphantly. “Excellent work, gentlemen.”

“It was your idea, ma’am,” said Bones modestly.

“You cheated!” exclaimed Mirror Nyota as she and her fellow Mirrorverse compatriots rushed down the steps toward their group—all of them except for James, who was trailing behind, with a small, amused smile on his face.

“Yup,” said Nyota, crossing her arms, as their own group took a step forward to face off with their counterparts. “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”

“You’re gonna pay for that,” growled Mirror Hikaru, starting to grow threateningly-

“Simmer down, Coach,” James chuckled, strolling through the line of his fellow Imperial guards. “Like we’ve never done something shady to win a wager.”

“But Kirk, zey killed ze Empress!” Mirror Pavel protested.

“They sure did,” James said brightly. “And you know what that means...”

“Kirk!” Mirror Scotty gasped. “Surely you cannae mean-”

“Oh, I mean. And don’t call me Shirley.” James took the Imperial staff from Spock and came forward with it. Then he dropped to one knee before Georgiou, lowering his head and raising the staff. “The old Queen is dead...,” he said in an unusually calm voice. “Long live the Queen.”

The rest of James’s cohorts kowtowed too, albeit reluctantly. Georgiou stared at them in shock. “What _is_ this?”

“Your coronation, your Majesty,” said James with a cheeky grin. “Not the official one, of course, but you killed the Empress. That makes you head honcho now. As of this moment, the entire Empire, and all its subjects, are yours to command.”

“But I don’t want...” Georgiou stared at the scepter. “Wait. You mean, I can order you to do anything?”

“Anything at all, your Majesty.”

Georgiou considered that for a second, then grasped the golden staff. “Alright. In that case...I order you to help us return to our universe.”

“Whatever you wish, your Majesty,” said James, grinning even brighter. “I thought that’d be your first official decree.”

“James, what the hell are you doing?” Mirror Bones asked. “The Inquisition is gonna have her head for killing Georgiou. Especially Kira.”

“The Inquisition doesn’t have to know,” James said confidently. “She’s an exact copy of the Empress, right down to her DNA.”

“Fine, then they’ll have her head for _ impersonating _ Georgiou!”

“By the time they figure out that our Georgiou is dead, they’ll be back to their universe and it’ll be too late.”

Mirror Bones looked at Mirror Spock. “Talk some sense into your boyfriend.”

“He’s your boyfriend too.”

“Not when he’s bein’ an idiot!” Mirror Bones frowned hard at James.

“Oh come on, Len.” James poked his bottom lip out teasingly. “You know you love me.”

“Against my better judgment,” Mirror Bones huffed under his breath.

“His plan isn’t _ terrible_, Leonard,” Mirror Spock said gently.

“Oh come on, not you too! You’re supposed to be the smart one!”

“We simply need to dress her in the Empress’s clothes to convince the Inquisition,” Mirror Spock pointed out. “She’s already very similar to our Georgiou, albeit not as sadistic. She’s obviously a leader in her own universe.”

“I don’t know either of you,” Mirror Bones said, throwing up his hands in disgust.

“Except in the Biblical sense!” James added cheekily.

“I guess it’s the best plan we have,” Mirror Nyota said, shrugging.

“Aye. I’ll go along with it,” Mirror Scotty nodded.

“And me,” Mirror Pavel sighed.

“I guess it’s unanimous,” Mirror Hikaru said.

“Believe me,” said Georgiou sternly. “I can be a _ very _ convincing actress when I want to be.”

“See what I mean?” said James. “She’s gonna be fine.”

“So you’re just gonna let us go?” Bones said, stepping forward. “Just like that?”

“Oh Len, sweetie.” With a predatory smile, James stepped forward and caressed the firemaker’s cheek. “You are so very sexy...but your people don’t belong here. There’s only room for one Leonard McCoy in this universe.”

Bones blushed. “G-g-good,” he stammered, stepping back. “Just so we’re on the same page.”

“I reckon it’s just a simple matter o’ going back through the Device then,” said Scotty brightly.

“Ah, that’s the thing,” said James, rubbing the back of his neck. “The Device has been glitching as of late. That’s how my handsome twin here came to be in this world. It could use an...” James’s nervous gaze flicked to his father and the facsimile of his late mother. “Experienced touch.”

“I can look over it,” said George. “After all, it is my design.”

“And I can help,” Winona said promptly. She smiled wistfully at George. George gave her a timid smile back, and nodded graciously.

“Great,” said James quickly, clearly uncomfortable. “And the rest of us will...wait.”

They all turned and started to head back into the school. Lorca cleared his throat loudly. “Is it too much to ask for _ someone _ to take these damn cuffs off me?” he said in exasperation.

Everyone, both from the Mirrorverse and non-Mirrorverse, whipped their heads around and said in unison, “_Yes_.”

Lorca grumbled something under his breath and trudged after the group.

“Man, I didn’t realize how dark it’s getting,” Jim said, looking at the dimming sky.

“We did spend all day building the device, and then hiking across the city to find you,” Spock said.

Jim smiled, leaning into his side. “I know you’d come to rescue me.”

“I always will, my love. But I did not act alone.”

Jim looked back at his mother and all his friends. “Thank you. All of you.”

“You woulda done tha same fer us, Jimbo,” Scotty said brightly.

Jim looked at Bones, and then at Spock again. “And I trust you fought like cats and dogs the whole way?”

Spock and Bones’s gazes met, and they briefly shared a guilty look. “Heh,” Bones laughed, gaze dropping to the ground. “Yeah. You know us. Never get along.”

“Constant bickering,” Spock affirmed. He cleared his throat nervously.

Jim looked at his counterpart’s back and remembered what he’d said: _ Bickering? That’s just foreplay for them. _

At that moment, James turned and smirked at Jim over his shoulder, as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

Jim scowled back at him. No, it was silly. There was _ no _ way.

* * *

Principal Georgiou stared at the golden gown and armor they’d dressed her in. “No wonder that woman was so tempestuous,” she said, adjusting the breastplate. “This is horribly uncomfortable.”

“You look totally badass, Principal Georgiou,” said Nyota. “Uh, respectfully, that is.”

Georgiou smiled reluctantly. “Let’s hope the Empress’s followers think so.”

Nyota’s Mirror self, who hilariously was wearing almost the same exact outfit as her, strolled over to Nyota, arms crossed. “So...” she said. “You’re me.”

“Uh...yeah. I guess so,” Nyota responded.

Mirror Nyota narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her. Then she slowly encircled Nyota, like a jungle cat stalking its prey. Then after a full 360 degrees, Mirror Nyota said: “Not bad.”

Nyota slowly smirked. “I guess so are you.”

“I’m assuming you’re a shifter like me,” Mirror Nyota said, to which Nyota nodded. “What’s your animal?”

“You mean, what I shift into?” Nyota said. “A cat.”

“Like...just a regular housecat?” Mirror Nyota blinked. “No tigers or cheetahs? Not even a lynx?”

“Uh...no?” said Nyota in confusion. “Why, do you change into those things?”

Mirror Nyota grinned smugly. “Oh yeah. I can become any form of feline I want. My personal favorite is the tiger. Wanna see?”

“Yeah, totally!”

Mirror Nyota gave herself some space in the Empress’s boudoir, then her whole body shuddered and morphed, resorting to all fours as she changed into a tiger before Nyota’s very eyes.

“_Whoa_,” Nyota whispered, staring at her other self’s imposing, muscular form. When Nyota changed into a cat, her fur was all black, with one purple streak running down her back, reflecting her black hair with purple streaks (Nyota sometimes worried she was becoming Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way). Similarly, her mirror self’s tiger form was all black, instead of the standard orange, with purple stripes.

After a few seconds, Mirror Nyota shifted back into a human. “See?”

“That’s...incredible.” Nyota’s shoulders slumped. “Now I feel like my power is totally weak. No wonder they placed me as a sidekick.”

“Hey, if I can do it, I bet you can do it too,” Mirror Nyota said. “Why don’t you try?”

“Oh, uh...no, I better not,” said Nyota, worrying about making an idiot of herself in front of...herself.

Mirror Nyota shrugged. “If that’s what you really want.”

Nyota bit her lip nervously, as there was a tap on the door. “_Everywody decent in zere?_” Pavel called from the other side.

“Morally? No. Wearing clothes? Yes,” said Mirror Nyota.

Mirror Pavel poked his head in. “Rooms have been prepared for ze wisitors, as vell as dinner.”

“Will this...Inquisition be there?” Georgiou asked nervously.

“Oh yes. Chief Inqvisitor Kira sits at ze Empress’s left hand ewery night. You mustn’t break charwecter ewen for a second.”

“Wonderful,” sighed Georgiou. “What a mess I’ve gotten myself into.”

* * *

“I hope Georgiou’s okay without us,” Jim fretted as Mirror Scotty and Mirror Hikaru escorted them all to their rooms.

“Woulda looked pretty weird if there were two sets of us at the dinner table,” Bones admitted. “Better we eat in our rooms, to avoid raising suspicion about Georgiou.”

Scotty and his Mirror self were studying each other suspiciously, but Hikaru and his counterpart, however, were getting along famously. “So you have a Ben too?” Hikaru asked his twin.

“Yep! I’m planning to pop the question on our next anniversary,” said Mirror Hikaru.

“Aww, congratulations! I was planning on Christmas.”

“One overly perky bus driver was bad enough,” Nyota mumbled. “Now I have to deal with two? This is my hell.”

“Aw, cheer up, me darlin’,” Scotty chuckled, wrapping his arm around her. “He’s just havin’ fun.”

Mirror Scotty coughed. “So eh...you two are...an item?” he asked, eyeing them.

“Aye. Are you and your Nyota not...?”

“Eh...no. Jest coworkers.”

“You should ask her out,” Nyota said. “If you like her.”

Mirror Scotty laughed humorlessly. “The last person to hit on her took claws to the face.”

“But maybe she likes you back,” Nyota said. “After all, it worked out for me and Monty.”

“Granted, I did have to tame her a bit,” Scotty chuckled.

Nyota gave him a dangerous glare. “Excuse me? You _ tamed _ me? Is that what you think I am? A _ kept woman_?”

“Ach! No, darlin’, no! I just meant-!”

“I am _ not _ your little tamed shrew,” Nyota spat, shrugging Scotty’s arm off of her and stomped ahead.

Mirror Scotty whistled. “She’s a real spitfire. In any universe.”

“Aye,” Scotty said, staring wistfully after her. “I love her so much,” he sighed longingly.

Nyota was given her own suite; Scotty, Pavel, and Hikaru got one to share; and Jim, Spock, and Bones were shown to the last one. “We’ll bring you your meals in a jiff,” said Mirror Hikaru, shutting the door behind him.

Spock looked at the two queen size beds. “So, I take it Jim and I will be splitting a bed and McCoy will take the other?”

“Fine by me,” Bones said with a shrug.

Jim peeked into the bathroom. “Guys, I’m gonna take a shower real quick. I feel yucky after being in the cell.”

“Okay,” responded the other two as Jim disappeared.

Bones sighed and flopped down on one of the beds. “You really think we can trust these people?” he said. “They may have our faces, but they don’t mean they’re us.”

“I know,” said Spock, sitting on the other bed. “Especially the other Jim. He seems so...sinister.”

“Yeah. I wonder what _ we’re _ like.”

“The other McCoy seemed like an ornery curmudgeon...so not that different, I suppose.”

Bones lobbed a pillow at him. “Haha. Your clone’s not that different from you either: boring, overly serious, sanctimonious...”

“You think I’m boring?” Spock said.

“Well...maybe that’s a little harsh,” Bones admitted, sitting up.

“And they said...they’re _ both _ dating James?”

“No. More like...they’re..._all_ together.”

Spock and Bones stared at each other for a moment. Then they jumped as a knock on the door startled them. It opened and Mirror Hikaru walked in with a cart. He looked from one guy to another and said, “Geez, did I walk in on a funeral?”

* * *

The redhead gave Georgiou a simpering smile as she poured her a glass of red wine. “To another glorious day in your Empire,” Kira said, raising her own glass and clinking it against the principal’s.

Georgiou eyed Kira’s glass. “You’re drinking wine too?” She was certain Kira was only 18.

Kira gave her a strange look. “We drink wine together every night,” she said.

“I...only meant that I was surprised you’re drinking tonight, since you need to be on your toes. With the Device malfunctioning more and more, we need to be on high alert,” Georgiou said haughtily.

Kira laughed, taking a long sip. “I have a very high constitution. It would take a lot more alcohol to affect me,” she said.

Georgiou gave Mirror Spock and Mirror Bones a look out of the corner of her eye. They nodded discreetly—good save.

“I can’t help but notice your precious Hand is absent,” Kira said, gesturing to the empty chair across from her.

“James is interrogating his counterpart from the other world,” Mirror Spock answered.

“The one you failed to capture,” Mirror Bones added.

Kira’s jaw clenched. She pointed to the boy sitting beside her. “It’s Bashir’s fault that little cretin got away from me. If this _ oaf _ hadn’t-”

“_Oaf?_” Bashir spat. “_You _ were the one who-!”

“_Enough_,” Georgiou said. “I will not have my meal soured by this pointless bickering.”

Kira turned her hawklike gaze on Georgiou. “My Empress...you normally enjoy my dressing down of the soldiers.”

“Not tonight. I’m developing a migraine,” Georgiou snapped as the servants set down a plate before her. A perfectly marinated steak. Georgiou cut into it and blood dribbled out onto the plate. “Excuse me, my steak isn’t cooked all the way through.”

“It’s just the way your Majesty always eats it—rare,” the servant said nervously.

“If her Majesty asks for it cooked more, then you will cook it more, insolent pig!” Kira spat, slapping the servant.

“No!” Georgiou said, raising her hand. “This is fine. It’s fine.”

The servant scurried away, and Georgiou stared at the blood oozing out of the meat before her. The dark red was a stark contrast to the white porcelain. Georgiou felt her stomach turn. She took a bite, even though she didn’t feel the least bit hungry.

* * *

Later that night, as they were preparing to fall asleep, Spock felt the bed dip as Jim crawled in beside him and into his arms. “Love you,” Jim sighed, snuggling into his chest, already half-asleep.

“I love you too. Sleep well, my love,” Spock whispered. He looked up and saw Bones lying in the other bed, watching them mournfully.

Spock swallowed. He had the strangest urge to ask him to..._join _ them. But Jim was already fast asleep in his arms. Bones rolled over and turned his back to them, and Spock shut his eyes, focusing on Jim’s even breathing. Soon he too was asleep.


	7. To Those About To Rock...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe it’s been six months since I updated this! I could’ve sworn I posted this well past November. I’m so sorry.

The next morning, Winona Kirk was up at the crack of dawn. She was escorted by this universe’s Pavel and Hikaru to the library so she could get a crack at the Device. But when she got there- “Oh!”

George Kirk jolted in surprise, his legs sticking out from underneath the Device. He impulsively sat up and banged his head on the Device’s underside. “Ow!”

“Oh, shoot, let me look at that.” Winona knelt at George’s side as he pulled himself out from under the Device. She cupped his face while she inspected his forehead. “That’s going to be quite the goose-egg. You always were so clumsy...”

“And you were always so overprotective. I’m fine,” said George, waving his hand.

“George-”

“‘Nona, I’m fine, really-”

They froze, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Their faces were very close.

Finally Winona pulled away. “Sorry...you’re right. I’m sure you’re fine.”

George cleared his throat, not meeting her gaze. “Uh...thanks. For the concern.”

They’d almost forgotten.

After a moment, Winona said, “What have you been doing? With the Device, I mean.”

“Uh, just checking out the hardware. Looking for shorts that could be causing the glitches. Haven’t found anything so far. I suppose we should check the interdimensional matrices next,” said George, running his fingers through his beard pensively.

Winona smiled wistfully, shaking her head. “It’s so strange...”

George looked at her. “What?”

“Well..._ my _ George didn’t know the first thing about quantum physics. He was a baseball coach at the normies’ high school.”

George looked at her. “No shit. _ My _ Winona was a softball coach at the local normie academy.”

“I’m surprised this universe has softball. I was expecting gladiator fights.”

George chuckled, prying a metal panel off of the side of the Device. “Georgiou may have been a tyrant, but she did understand how to keep the masses tranquil. Letting them have their little games give them less time to plan a revolt.”

Winona looked at him thoughtfully. “Hey, in this universe, was there a man named Karl Marx? Just out of curiosity.”

“Of course. The emperor had him burned at the stake as a heretic.”

Winona’s eyes widened. “Holy shit.”

George squinted into the Device. “Hey, I think I see something,” he said, shining a penlight inside. “Come here.”

Winona crawled over and peered in. “What are you talking about?”

“The spatial processor...do you see it?”

“That blue chip?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t see what you mean.”

“It think it’s been tampered with, look.”

As George leaned forward, Winona felt his warm heat pressed up against her back. Her eyes fluttered closed and she relaxed into him.

George paused, realizing how close he was with her. A lock of her unruly golden curls brushed his nose. “Hey,” he said softly. “You use coconut conditioner.”

Winona’s eyes opened, and she blushed. “Yes...I do.”

“That was...the same conditioner my wife used.”

She turned her head and their noses brushed together. Their breath caught simultaneously.

“I’m not your wife, you know,” Winona whispered.

“I know,” murmured George. “And I’m not your husband.”

Winona bit her lip nervously.

“Stop thinking so much,” George said.

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“You bite your lip when you’re worried. I know you.”

“Don’t tell me what I’m thinking,” Winona scolded half-heartedly.

“My apologies,” George whispered, somewhat amused.

Winona was unable to hold back her smile. They stared into each other’s eyes...and then their lips met in a desperate kiss.

* * *

The gang found their counterparts in the gymnasium after breakfast, chatting, playing games, and training in unarmed combat.

“_Hrahhh!_” Mirror Nyota cried, expertly flipping Mirror Scotty and pinning him to the ground with the heel of her combat boot to his throat. She gazed down at him. “Surrender.”

Mirror Scotty gazed up at her, as if looking into the face of Aphrodite herself. “I surrender,” he squeaked.

Smirking, Mirror Nyota lifted her foot off of his neck. Then, her gaze softening a touch, she offered her hand to help him up. Mirror Scotty gladly took it.

As the gang dispersed to mingle, Bones’s ears pricked up at the sound of a thrumming bassline. He followed the sound to the other side of the gym where he saw his counterpart sitting at the bottom of the bleachers by himself, playing a handsome black guitar. “You play bass?” said Bones in surprise.

Mirror Bones didn’t even look up. “Uh huh.”

“That’s crazy—_I _ play bass in my universe. We have a band,” Bones said smugly.

“Really. What’s it called,” Mirror Bones said, voice dripping with disinterest.

“Uh...we don’t actually have a name yet.”

“How many gigs have you played.”

“Uh...none so far...”

“...”

“Well, we’re set to play at graduation! It’s gonna be great.”

“That’s nice.”

Bones scowled. “Well I bet I can play bass better than you!” he blurted.

Mirror Bones finally stopped playing, looking up slowly. He smiled at Bones. “Oh _ really?_”

Several minutes later, Bones found himself being led into a side room with a full set of rock band equipment--nice equipment too, and plenty of it. “Damn,” Bones mumbled to himself.

“The Empress liked me and the gang’s sound a lot. She was our benefactor. We call our band Shenzhou.” Mirror Bones handed him another bass guitar, a sleek dark blue number.

Bones looked at it. “What...is this for.”

“You said you can riff better than me? Okay. Prove it. Let’s have a little riffoff. Right now.” Mirror Bones leered at his counterpart. “‘Less of course ya think ya can’t hack it.”

Bones’s nostrils flared. “Bring it on, _ Scarface_.”

“Care to go first?” Mirror Bones offered.

Bones plugged the bass into an amp and played a hard riff. The bass was perfectly in tune, of course. “Don’t mind if I do.”

He started out with a classic: “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen.

Mirror Bones nodded along. “Nice. But try this one for size.” His deft fingers launched into the bassline from Rage Against The Machine’s “Bullet In The Head”.

“Alright, alright, not bad...but how about this?” Bones launched into Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”.

“Alright...enough kindergarten stuff.” Mirror Bones hammered out the bassline to “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica.

“Wow,” said Bones, geniunely impressed. “But I think I can top it.”

“Oh yeah? Whatcha got?”

With a smirk, Bones’s fingertips dashed up and down frenetically, at almost superhuman speed, as he played “Hysteria” by Muse.

“Aw, man,” Mirror Bones laughed, putting down his guitar. “I gotta say it. You’re really good.”

“Thanks. You’re not so bad.”

“You’re both pretty good,” said a third voice, and both Boneses turned to see James, along with all their respective friends standing in the doorway, looking in on them with interest. James stroked his stubbled chin thoughtfully. “And that gives me an idea.” He turned to his double and said, “Whaddya say, cheerleader? How about a little B.O.B?”

“A Battle of the Bands?” Jim said, eyebrows rising. “How would that exactly work? Who’d be the judge?”

“The guys here at the Academy, of course. They love it when we play.”

“And that’s exactly the problem,” said Nyota, stepping forward. “Your school chums would just pick you guys as the winner.”

“Nah, nah, believe me, they’ll pick the best act, fair and square. Come on, Neet. You’re not telling me that you’re scared you’ll _ lose _, are ya?” James lifted an eyebrow. “I mean, if your group can bring their a-game, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Nyota puffed out her chest. “We got a-game! We got a-game for days! You’re _ on!_”

“If I may point out,” Spock said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “The student body here isn’t supposed to know we’re here.”

James shrugged. “We’ll let ‘em think you’re us. Easy peasy.”

“I know we’re your doubles, but there are still significant aesthetic differences between our clan and yours. How do you propose we compensate for that?”

“Actually...” Mirror Spock stepped forward, also adjusting his glasses, but the corner of the right frame instead of the nose bridge. He smirked. “I believe I have a solution to that problem...”

* * *

Pavel peeked out at the mass of students that had gathered in the auditorium. “Zat’s a lot of people!” he squeaked.

“Pasha, there’s gonnae be more’n that at graduation,” Scotty said, patting him on the shoulder. “Gonnae hafta get used to performin’ in front o’ crowds.”

The student body burst into wild cheers as Shenzhou took the stage. James grabbed the lead singer’s mic before sitting down at his drumset. “_WE ARE SHENZHOU!_” he roared. The cheers grew louder.

“Now we’re doin’ things a little different this time around. We’re gonna be playin’ two songs for you guys. You gotta clap louder for the song you like the best. Although somethin’ tells me it’s gonna be the first one.” James shot the other band a smirk out his peripheral.

“Wait...why am I on lead guitar?” Nyota said, watching her mirror self at the front of the stage.

“And vhy is _ Spock _ by the microphone?” Chekov added.

Spock turned pale. “Oh no. Oh _ no _ ...mirror me is going to _ sing_.”

“Anyway, without further ado...” James darted back to his drumset and clapped his drumsticks together. “_One, two, three, four!_”

Mirror Spock leaned into the microphone and began to sing confidently. “_They gonna clean up your looks, with all the lies in the books, to make a citizen out of you._” Mirror Nyota’s guitar joined in. _ “Because they sleep with a gun, and keep an eye on you, son, so they can watch all the things you do._”

The mouths of the band standing backstage dropped open simultaneously, except for Jim’s. “Spock...you can sing!” Sulu said, amazed.

“I...I can?” Spock said in shock.

“Of course you can,” said Jim, smiling proudly at his boyfriend. “I’ve heard you in the shower.”

“_Because the drugs never work! They gonna give you a smirk! ‘Cause they got methods of keepin’ you clean..._” Mirror Spock continued to sing. “_They gonna rip up your heads, your aspirations to shreds! Another cog in the murder machine! They said now-_”

“_Teenagers scare the livin’ shit outta me! _ ” All Shenzhou joined in for the chorus to My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers”.“ _ They could care less, as long as someone’ll bleed! So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose! Maybe they’ll leave you alone, but not ME!_”

The band watched as Shenzhou played through the song, then braced themselves for the end. “I sure hope this projection doohickey of Beardy Spock’s works,” Bones groaned under his breath.

“_...maybe they’ll leave you alone, but not ME!_” Shenzhou shouted one last time. Nyota played a short tag, then the stage went black.

“Go!” Spock whispered, and they quickly swapped places with their counterparts as Shenzhou ran offstage. The instant they were in position, the lights came back up, and the band held their breath.

...but the cheers just continued. The crowd was none the wiser, seeing a hologram of Shenzhou grafted over the gang from the non-Mirrorverse, thanks to Mirror Spock’s sophisticated projection system. The gang simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

Spock cleared his throat and leaned into the mic. “Well, thank you for that. We are...Shenzhou. Still.”

“_WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!_” the crowd screamed.

“Yeah, and that first song was _ alright _, but this one is gonna knock your frickin’ block off!” Sulu exclaimed into his mic, pumping his fist.

The crowd hooted and hollered at this. The gang gave Sulu a bewildered look. Sulu shrugged, covering the mic with his hand and stage whispering to his friends, “_What? _ I’m staying in character!”

Spock and Nyota quickly switched places, with Nyota handing off the guitar to Spock. Then she stepped up to the mic. “Are you ready to ** _ROCK?!_**” she shouted.

“**_YEAH!!!!!_**” the crowd cried back.

Nyota nodded at Jim, who tapped a rhythm with his sticks, then Spock launched into a suspenseful intro. Jim lightly kept beat on cymbals, but in the beginning, it was really just the guitar and Nyota’s electric vocals.

“_Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she’s singin’!_” Nyota sang into the mic. “_Who! Who! Whoooo. Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she singin’. Ooh, baby, ooh, said ooooooh._..”

Scotty added in a little piano, and Sulu and Chekov leaned into their mics to provide backup vocals. “_And the days go by, like a strand, in the wind, in the web that is my own; I began again. Said to my friend, baby...nothin’ else matters!_”

The audience was rapt as they played like they’d never played before. Maybe it was being before a real audience for the first time...or maybe it was just the magic of Stevie Nicks.

“_The clouds never expect it when it rains!_” Nyota passionately howled into the mic. “_But the sea...changes colors! But the sea...does not change. And so with the slow...graceful flow...of age, I went forth with an old age desire...to be...on the edge of...seventeen..._”

The song ended and the students made a ruckus much louder than the one that had followed the first song. The group looked at each in satisfaction. It was clear who had won the battle.

* * *

“Good news, everyone,” said Winona as she and George entered the lounge where the two bands were hanging out after the concert, congratulating themselves and each other on a show well played. “We are confident that the Device will be ready for use to send us back to our home dimension once the final recalibrations are complete.”

“Winona realized our big mistake before—the space/time continuum is in constant flux, whereas we had the Device’s matrices designed to be static,” George said, beaming at Winona.

“Well, you _ were _ the one who devised the correct equation to program the matrix,” Winona said, blushing modestly.

“But without _ your _ accelerated encoding system, _ I _ never would have-”

James coughed pointedly. “I hate to break up this mutual gush fest, but someone needs to inform her Empressness, so if one of you can just give me a time estimate and 86 the technical jargon, that’d be great.”

George and Winona stared after their son with concern, but George cleared his throat. “We should be ready to go in 20 minutes.”

“Good. We’ll meet up in the library in 20.” James turned and strode out of the room.

Spock looked at the rest of them all and nodded. “Let’s get moving.”

Jim bit his lip and stared across the room at the Mirror versions of Spock and Bones. Spock was saying something while Bones listened intently, rubbing his arm. There was obvious adoration in Mirror Bones’s eyes. The sight didn’t make Jim feel as weird as he thought—it made him feel warm.

Jim wandered over to them, clearing his throat. “Hey guys...you got a minute?”

“Of course, Jim.”

“Anything for you.”

Jim blushed. “Listen, um...I think once this is all over...you should really consider using your powers for good. Helping people. I can see the good in you, and I think you want to be good too. And you could convince the other me too. He says he has no choice but to be bad — but now that the Empress is gone, it’s a chance for real change. Change that all three of you could envoke. Just...think about it, please?”

Mirror Spock and Mirror Bones looked at each other, then Jim, and nodded. “James Tiberius Kirk,” said Spock, stepping toward him. “You are amazing in _ any _ universe.”

Then he cupped Jim’s chin and solemnly kissed him, leaving Jim wide-eyed and mouth agape.

“Yeah,” said Mirror Bones, stepping forward. “A real class act.” Then _ he _ kissed Jim too, making the poor boy’s head spin. Jim felt a teasing nip to his bottom lip before Mirror Bones pulled away with a sly wink.

Across the room, the other Spock and Bones were watching, eyebrows raised in shock. “The sooner we leave this universe, the better,” Bones uttered.

“I concur,” Spock said, swallowing hard.

* * *

Georgiou was just finishing changing out of the Empress’s gold armor to her more practical dress and blazer ensemble from her own world when the door to the Empress’s quarters swung open. “Knock knock,” said the man in the doorway, waving slyly.

“Lorca! Who let you out of your cell?” Georgiou demanded. “And why did my guards let you into my room?”

“Trust me, sweetheart, there are more guards here loyal to me than you think. So...heard you were heading back.”

“That’s right. And you’re staying here, where you belong,” said Georgiou sternly.

“Believe me, I’m not dying to go back to the Marshmallowverse. Now that my biggest enemy has been taken out, thanks to you, this dimension is no longer a threat to me. If anything...it’s rife with opportunity.” Lorca smirked.

Georgiou narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

Lorca nodded at Georgiou’s scepter, lying on the bed. “That. I want my damn throne already.”

“Ha! And why would I leave this world in your hands? You’re even less qualified to run an empire than Georgiou.”

“I’m wounded, Phillippa, really I am. I’ve given my blood, sweat, and tears to maintaining this empire, and for what? For Georgiou to deny me my right to rule after she steps down? Who else would she have given the throne? But she’s not here anymore. And soon, you won’t be either. What do you care about this world?”

“It may be hard to understand, but some of us _ care _ about the wellbeing of others, even when there is no benefit to us.”

“If you really do care about the wellbeing of others, you’ll give the Empire over to me. Because if not...I’ll ensure that the Device remains intact after you leave, and the next ruler will be free to invade your dimension like Georgiou always planned. Is that really what you want? But you do make me Emperor, I swear, I’ll leave you and all other dimensions alone. I’ll stay in my lane. It’s a pretty sweet deal, Phillippa. Think about it carefully.”

Georgiou bit her lip, conflict clear on her face, then she sighed, and held out the scepter. “Deal.”

Lorca took the scepter and grinned greedily at it. “_Yes_...finally in the right hands.”

Phillippa brushed past him, her stomach churning. “I can’t _ wait _ to leave this place.”


	8. Gunpowder Jeopardy

“Well, here we are,” said Spock, staring at the Device. “About to return home.”

Bones patted Spock on the shoulder. “You know, I had my doubts, nerd. But...you really proved you’re a fit leader.”

“And _ you _ proved yourself to me,” Spock replied, looking at him. “I won’t doubt you ever again.”

Bones smiled, then shrugged nonchalantly. “Eh. I’ll probably still doubt you.”

Spock rolled his eyes. “I should expect nothing less.” Bones chuckled and bumped up against him playfully.

“Hey, Jimmy,” whispered a voice in Jim’s ear. He turned to see his doppelgänger at his elbow. “Consider what I said about those two,” said James with a grin. “Because the way those two are acting right now? _ That’s _ how my boyfriends flirt with each other.”

Jim looked back at Spock and Bones. “Come on...that’s not...” But he couldn’t think of what to say. They _ did _ look sort of flirty...

James nodded knowingly. “From one James Kirk to another...just think about it.”

“And _ you_,” said Jim, lightly punching his double on the arm. “Be good.”

James snorted.

Scotty finished attaching something to the Device. “Charge loaded an’ ready to go. Ye’ll set it off after’n we leave, aye, James?”

“Definitely. And we can forget this whole thing ever happened,” James replied

“Then let’s go home,” said Georgiou. “I can’t stand this ridiculous armor another minute.”

“What’s your hurry, your Majesty?” Everyone whipped around at the sound of the menacingly cheerful voice. All clad in red Imperial uniform, Kira and her fellow Inquisitors were standing in the doorway of the empty library, armed and ready.

Kira pulled a familiar individual by his ear toward her. “Tell then what you told me, dear Records Keeper.”

It was Mr. Sisko, only the Sisko from _ this _ universe. “I sensed the spirit of the Empress,” Sisko said, gritting his teeth. “She was killed by _ that one_-” He pointed to Georgiou. “And _ that one_.” He indicated to Bones. “This imposter took her place. She must be from the other world!”

Georgiou stuck out her chin defiantly. “Insolence! He is lying.”

“Oh believe me, I had our resident polygraph Mr. Odo test his honesty. He’s telling the truth.” Kira smirked, letting him go. “You are _ all _ guilty of conspiracy to murder the Empress, and therefore, I decree you _ all _ to be executed!”

“You can’t order that!” James said.

“Oh, that’s _ right,_” said Kira reluctantly, mockingly tapping her chin. “_However _ ...if my troops _ killed _ you in the ensuing struggle of your arrest _ accidentally_...well, that’d just be a shame, wouldn’t it?” She grinned wickedly. “Oh, _ Julian..._”

The skinny boy stepped forward and morphed into his rock form. “I’m gonna enjoy ripping you all in half,” he growled.

“Quick, start the portal!” George said.

“It’ll take a second to warm up!” Winona responded.

“Then we’ll just have to hold them off,” Spock said, getting into defensive position. “Everyone, get ready. And whatever happens, don’t let anyone damage the Device!”

“_Get them!_” Kira growled.

Julian rushed them. Spock leapt into the air and collided with his chest, sending the stone Goliath stumbling backward. “Ahhh,” groaned Spock, clutching his throbbing shoulder.

“I got ya, nerd.” Bones put his hand on Spock’s shoulder and healed it. Then he glared at Julian. “Hey! Big guy!”

Julian, dazed, shook himself and focuses on Bones.

“Eat flame!” Bones puckered his lips and blew azure fire right into Julian’s face. Julian roared, clutching at his eyes. He morphed back into his human form and fell to the ground.

Kira rolled her eyes. “Oh for fuck’s sake...if you want something done right...”

She extended her open palms and shot a psionic wave at them, but Jim and James flung out their hands and froze the blast’s momentum before it could hit them or the Device. The two looked at each other briefly, having the same idea at the same time, and reversed the wave back on Kira. “_Oof!_” the Chief Inquisitor gasped as she and her underlings were knocked over like bowling pins. Chekov dashed forward and locked the library doors, keeping them out.

“How the Device’s coming?” Spock asked George and Winona.

“Almost ready!” said George.

“_GRAHHHHHHH!_” Julian had recovered and shifted back to his stone form. Enraged, he charged toward the first person he saw: Scotty.

“Ahh!” Scotty cried.

Suddenly there was a loud growl as a black and purple blur tackled Julian to the ground. The gang looked on in shock as an enormous mountain lioness wrassled with Julian on the floor of the library.

“Nyota!” Scotty gasped.

Nyota roared and swept one massive paw across Julian’s face, etching claw marks in his stone face. Julian let out a roar of rage and tried to throw her, but Nyota held her own.

“Hikaru, help her!” Spock ordered.

“On it!” Hikaru closed his eyes and held out one hand. Enormous roots burst from the floor and curled around the rock monster’s limbs, pinning him there. Julian struggled against his bonds, but to no avail. Nyota leapt off of him and morphed back into her human form. “Is anyone else really in the mood for steak?” she said.

Scotty stared at her in awe, mouth agape. “However did you do that?”

“I saw him going for you...and it just lit up something inside me. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you and...I just couldn’t let you get hurt. I guess it was enough to finally bring out the lion within.”

Scotty slowly smiled. “I can’t believe you finally said you love me.”

“Yeah well...” Nyota rolled her eyes, but was unable to keep the smile off her face. “Don’t be a prep about it.”

Scotty laughed, sweeping her into a kiss. The sweet moment was interrupted by the sound of heavy banging against the library door.

“The portal’s ready! Everybody go!” George cried.

Scotty set the charge, then he, Nyota, Pavel, Hikaru, and Georgiou stepped through the portal, disappearing on the other side. Winona suddenly took George’s hand. “You could come with us,” she said.

“What?”

“I have a house and a big empty bed...plus a son that needs a father,” Winona said.

George looked honestly and truly tempted. Then his eyes landed on James.

“So do I,” George said softly.

Winona looked at James too, then back at him and nodded miserably. “I understand,” she said hoarsely.

“I don’t suppose I could convince you to stay here?”

Winona shook her head, tears springing up in her eyes.

George was close to tears too. “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

Winona hiccupped and pulled away, moving toward the portal. Then she turned back around and threw herself into George’s arms. “Oh what the hell, one for the road.” She kissed him desperately, sobbing into the kiss. George wrapped his arms around her so tightly, as if he might never be able to let go.

Jim began to cry at the sight and Bones and Spock wrapped their arms around him.

Finally they pulled apart and Winona tearfully walked into the portal. George took in a deep, shuddering breath.

Jim came over and threw his arms around him. “Thank you,” he said softly. “For letting me have a dad again...even if it was only for a few days.”

George choked, hugging him back. “I love you, son,” he said. Then he looked over his shoulder at his James, who painfully pulled his gaze away.

“Jim,” said Spock softly, touching his shoulder. “We have to go. The charge is about to go off.”

Jim sniffled hard and let go. Spock took his hand and they walked through the portal together.

* * *

Spock let out a sigh of relief as they took in the familiar old Mad Science lab. “There truly is no place like home,” he said.

“You’re back! Finally!” said Dr. Daystrom, rushing over to them. “And you’ve rescued Principal Georgiou too! Well done! Now, tell me all about the other world!”

“Wait a sec,” Jim said, looking around. “Where’s Bones?!”

Suddenly Bones poked his head through the portal. “Didn’t think you’d left me behind, now did—_ah!_”

Suddenly something jerked him back. “Help!” Bones cried, reaching out frantically.

“Hold on!” Jim grabbed one hand, Spock grabbed the other. The two of them tried desperately to pull him through.

“Lemme go!” Bones shouted at whoever had him on the other side. “I’m a high schooler, not a tug-o’-war rope!”

“Pull harder!” Jim cried at Spock. “Use your strength!”

“If I pull too hard I could rip his arm off!” Spock replied.

“Yeah, let’s _ not _ rip off my appendages!” Bones yelped.

“I got an idea! Take him, Spock!” Jim wrapped Bones’s arms around Spock’s neck and Spock’s arms around Bones’s back.

Bones and Spock stared each other in the face, their lips just barely hovering against each other’s. They both blushed. Bones cleared his throat. “So, uh...you come here often?”

“Spock, _ PULL!_” Jim shouted.

Spock tightened his firm grip on Bones and pulled as much as he could. As Bones’s torso came through the portal, a pair of arms were wrapped around his waist. Jim bent down and bit one of the assailant’s hands _ hard_.

There was a shriek, and the other person let go. Bones and Spock went flying backward, landing on the tile floor with Bones sprawled on top of Spock.

They stared into each other’s eyes, then scrambled to get off of each other.

A face stuck itself through the portal—it was Kira. “You may have killed our leader,” she growled. “But that won’t stop me from invading this world and claiming it for the Empire! _ I _ am the Empress now, and _ I _ shall-

Suddenly there was a cacophonous sound from the other side and the portal shrank and disappeared, taking Kira with it. Everyone stared at the empty space where her head had been floating. “Vhat happened?” Pavel squeaked.

“I believe that was Scotty’s bomb,” Spock said, exhaling slowly. “And it seems not a moment too soon.”

“So...” said Hikaru slowly. “We did it?”

“Yes, Mr. Sulu,” said Georgiou, smiling with relief. “I do believe it’s over.”

* * *

_ Back in the Mirror world... _

Lorca was sitting on the Imperial throne, one leg slung over the arm, idly spinning the scepter in one hand like a baton. A servant brought him a flute of champagne and a bunch of grapes. Lorca smirked as he swiped the champagne from her tray, then put his finger under her chin. “Feed me, sweetheart.”

The poor woman grimaced and held the grapes over his face so Lorca could pluck them off with his teeth.

Lorca chuckled. He looked over at Spock, Bones, and the rest of Shenzhou, kneeling on the black marble floor, their wrists in depowering cuffs. “Isn’t this great?”

Suddenly, George and James flashed into the middle of the throne room. “I don’t believe that seat belongs to you,” James said.

Lorca’s guards turned their guns on them, but with a wave of his hand, George teleported them out of the room. “Nice one, Dad,” said James.

“Hate to break it to you, Kirk, but this throne _ is _ in fact, mine,” Lorca said, seemingly unbothered by James’s appearance. He got up and stride down the steps confidently toward him. “That fake Georgiou left _ me _ in charge before she and her goody two-shoes students escaped out of here. And now that I’m finally Emperor like I deserve, things are gonna be a _ lot _ different around here. First, I...” Lorca’s voice faltered, and he pressed a hand to his heart.

“What’s the matter, Gabriel,” said James ever so calmly. “Blood not pumping fast enough for you?”

“Y-...what di-...” Lorca struggled to make words.

“Maybe that’s because I’m making your heart slow down to a full stop as we speak,” James continued, a small cruel smile appeared on his face.

Lorca gasped and fell to the ground. He pounded his fist desperately against his chest trying to make his heart go faster. “I thought about _ speeding it up _ till it just _ exploded _ out of your chest,” James said, “but then I thought, why not let him die slow and painful instead?”

Lorca weakly raised a shaking hand, trying to freeze him. All he achieved were a few small, sad snowflakes.

James bent down and said calmly in his face, “Hope you enjoyed your five minutes on the throne, Gabe. Because they were the last minutes of your life.”

Finally, Lorca stopped moving, stopped breathing. His body lie on the floor, cold blue eyes staring at nothing.

James snapped his fingers at a few servants. “Get this outta here. And let loose my friends.”

The servants scrambled to obey, and James sauntered over to the throne, picking up the scepter. He rolled it over in his hands, as if testing its weight

Spock and Bones rushed over to him as soon as they were free. “James, you did it!” Bones said gleefully. “That motherlover is dead!”

“But if Lorca is dead and Ms. Georgiou is gone, who is Emperor now?”

James considered the scepter...then handed it to Spock. “You are.”

Spock’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I?”

“Did you forget that before she died, the _ real _ Georgiou handed her scepter to _ you? _ And then she was killed in the duel with her twin. By Imperial law, that makes _ you _ the rightful successor to the throne.”

“But James...” Spock was staring at the scepter in awe. “_You _ did away with Lorca. Are you sure that you don’t wish to take the throne for yourself?”

James smiled reluctantly. “Oh believe me, I’m definitely tempted. But I’d be lying to myself if I said I’d make a good ruler. I’m too ambitious and too hotheaded.”

Bones piped up. “Don’t forget impulsive, stubborn, vain, dumb as a rock-”

James elbowed him in the chest. “What I’m _ trying _ to say is...I’d end up just like Georgiou and Lorca—I’d become a tyrant. And then everyone would be gunning for my head. What we _ need _ is someone with _ wisdom. _ Someone who’d be strong, but not cruel. Someone who’s pragmatic and who would consider the wellbeing of _ everyone_, not just themself. It’s time for a new kind of ruler...it’s time for Emperor Spock.”

Bones huffed out a laugh of amazement. “James, if this were a democracy, you could make a fortune as a campaign manager.”

Spock, however, was stunned into silence. He looked at the rest of his associates. “Do you...all feel this way?”

Nyota, Scotty, Pavel, and Hikaru looked at each other, then collectively nodded at Spock.

“Then...I will accept,” Spock said, conviction settling in his voice. “And I will lead the Empire into an age of prosperity and stability. And I hope all of you will serve as my Royal Counselors.”

“Hell yeah!” Hikaru cheered.

“You’re gonna need all the help you can get,” snorted Nyota, smirking at the new Emperor.

Spock looked at his boyfriends and said, “But what about you two? What will you do?”

James grinned devilishly. “Oh, don’t you worry about us. Me and Bones are more than satisfied with being co-Imperial _ consorts_.”

“Who said you get to speak for me?” Bones retorted.

“Oh get off your high horse, Bones, like you’re actually gonna refuse.”

Bones harrumphed. “Let’s just make one thing clear—I ain’t no concubine.”

James rolled his eyes, then took Spock’s hand and raised it into the air. “The old Empress is dead.”

Bones raised Spock’s other hand. “Long live the Emperor!”

“_Long live the Emperor!_”


	9. Curtain Call

“I can’t believe we’re just going home, after everything that happened today,” said Jim as the bus cruised through the sky. “I mean, look at these guys.” He gestured to their fellow students, who were laughing and chatting like it was just a normal day. Jim squinted at Kira and Julian, who waved back at him, blissfully unaware that in another life, they’d gleefully tried to murder them. “How do we carry on?”

“Jim, the world hasn’t changed, _ we _ have,” Hikaru pointed out from the driver’s seat. “We just have to remember what it was like to live in it.”

Spock patted his boyfriend’s leg. “It’s going to be an adjustment for us all. It’s safe to say that the experience changed some perspectives.” His eyes briefly met with Bones’s, before they looked away guiltily.

“Yeah. I never knew I had a _ lioness _ inside me!” Nyota said excitedly. “Well I mean, I _ did_, but in like a theoretical, soul animal kind of way. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my catsona, but now I have _ options_. I can actually help in a battle!”

“You know what this means, dontcha, darlin’?” Scotty said. “They’ll be upgradin’ ya from sidekick ta hero soon.”

Nyota’s eyes got wide. “Oh my gods, you’re _ right_. They may have thought my power was lame before, but now they _ have _ to accept that I’m awesome!”

“I thought you didn’t _ care _ about other people’s opinion of you, Miss Alternative,” Bones teased.

Nyota flipped him off. “I _ don’t_, but there’s no better way to take down the establishment than from the inside. Just another paw in the door.”

“Jus’ don’ go forgettin’ me when you’re a big shot,” Scotty said adoringly, pecking her cheek.

Nyota rolled her eyes, blushing.

Jim was staring out the window, unusually quiet. Bones looked across the aisle, eyebrows knitting into a look of concern. “Penny for your thoughts, sunshine?” 

Jim looked up and gave him a pained smile. “It’s just...I didn’t realize how much I missed my dad. It was really nice to have him again. Just for a moment.”

Bones reached over and squeezed his hand. “Yeah. I can kinda get what you’re going through. ‘Cept when my dad came back, I got to keep him. I can’t imagine the pain you’re in.”

“I feel even worse for my mom. Dad was the love of her life. In ten years, she’s never so much as looked at anyone else. He was it for her. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I lost...” Jim looked into Bones’s eyes for a split second, then at Spock, then at the floor. “...you,” he finished. The other two weren’t sure which one of them he was speaking to. Or both.

Spock and Bones shared another guilty look.

After a tense moment, the _ Enterprise _ made a bumpy landing on the unfinished highway, collapsing its wings and rolling down the road like a normal school bus. Finally, Pavel broke the silence. “And after all zat, ve _ still _ don’t have a name for ze band.”

“We could call ourselves Shenzhou? Like our counterparts?” Scotty suggested.

“Nah, I don’t wanna copy evil us. Even if their aesthetic was on point,” Nyota admitted.

“Guys...” said Hikaru, slowly. “I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we name the band after the thing that brought us together?”

“Superfleet Academy?” Spock asked.

“Having parents with superpowers?” Jim tried.

“Being outcast losers?” Nyota grumbled.

“Sparkling personalities!” Scotty said, upbeat.

“Sitting together at lunch?” Pavel wondered.

“Vengeance?” Bones shrugged.

Hikaru rolled his eyes. “Comedians, all of you. _ Nooooooo. _ I’m talking about our silver lady—the _ Enterprise!” _ Hikaru patted

“Uh, actually, I didn’t meet you guys on the bus,” Bones said.

“That’s your problem. What does everyone else think?” Hikaru said.

The rest of the group looked at each other, and slowly they began to smile. “Guys...I think we have our band name,” Jim said with a grin.

* * *

Bones got off at Spock and Jim’s stop. The trio always had dinner with the Graysons’ on Monday nights, along with Winona and David. But instead of heading straight to Spock’s, Jim turned toward his own house instead. “Guys, I’ll catch up with you,” Jim said. “I wanna go check on my mom. I’ll text you to let you know if we’re coming over tonight. She may not be up for it.”

“Of course,” said Spock, as he and Bones pulled Jim into a hug. “We’re here for you.”

“Always will be,” Bones added.

The three of them stood like that for a minute, arms around each other, then disbanded. Jim waved over his shoulder as he walked up to his front door and went inside. Spock sighed, wishing there was something he could do to ease his beloved’s pain.

“Hey, uh...I think we better talk,” said Bones apprehensively.

Spock felt nauseous, and he turned and started walking toward his house without looking at him. “We have nothing to talk about,” he said.

“Hey, you can’t pull that shit with me.” Bones planted himself right in Spock’s path. “Maybe Jim buys into your repressing your emotions crap, but I see right through you, Gray-...Spock,” Bones corrected himself. “Come on. You know there’s..._things _ we need to talk about.”

Spock crossed his arms, taking a step toward Bones. “And what _ things _ would those be, perchance?” he challenged.

Bones blushed. “You know...things. Between...you and me.”

“We’re...allies,” Spock said. “Some days, I’d even venture to call us friends. But that’s _ all _ that’s between us.”

“Oh, _ horseshit, _ Spock! You know as well as I do, in that other world...hell, even before that, something..._changed _ between us.” Bones looked him in the eye. “And you’re a damn liar if you pretend you don’t feel it too.”

Spock finally surrendered to the firemaker’s bright blue eyes, his stiff posture deflating slightly. “Okay, yes, fine, lately I’ve...felt attraction to you,” he murmured. “But so what? I still love Jim.”

“So do I!” Bones exclaimed. “You think I _ like _ this? I can barely tolerate you on a good day! Me _ liking _ you...it’s against all laws of God and man!”

“So you don’t want to be with me then,” Spock said, relieved.

_ “No!” _ Bones said, gagging at the very thought. Then he added with a smirk, “I’d like to be with your boyfriend, though.”

Spock glared at him. “So then we’re agreed. This...anomaly between us will be forgotten. We’ll go back to being...whatever we are.”

Bones rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say...we’re friends. I think we’re there.” He held his hand out like an olive branch. After a moment of deliberation, Spock took the proffered hand and shook it slowly. “So,” Bones said with a satisfied huff of breath. “What’s for din-din at Chez Grayson tonight?”

“Vietnamese spring rolls,” Spock replied promptly.

“With spicy peanut sauce?”

“Of course, what are we, animals?”

“Damn straight,” Bones said they headed toward the house together.

* * *

_Five weeks later _

“...and as we go out into the world,” Jadzia Dax said, wrapping up her valedictorian speech, “I hope we, as heroes and sidekicks alike, will remember what we learned in our time here at Superfleet Academy, and use those experiences to work to make this world the best that it can be. It is now my honor and privilege to present to you...the graduating class of 2022. Congrats, grads!”

The graduates cheered and threw their caps in the air. In the gym bleachers, Jim, Spock, Nyota, Scotty, and Pavel jumped up, hollering and whistling. _ “Yay, Bones!” “You did it!” _

_ “That’s my boy!” _ crowed David McCoy, unable to hide the tears in his eyes.

Bones turned toward their cheers and waved bashfully. He looked rather dashing and mysterious in his brand new supersuit and eyemask, mostly black with some light blue accents. Bones had told them two weeks ago that he had decided to call his super-sona “Sawbones”, in honor of his dad’s childhood nickname for him, and his dedication to getting his medical license. Reminiscent of David’s Western motif, Bones had chosen to forgo a cape in lieu of a long black duster, and his boots were more reminiscent of cowboy boots than regular superhero fare. He’d even added a desperado’s hat to top off the look, looking somewhat like a dark Lone Ranger.

“He looks good,” Jim said quietly, just loud enough for Spock to hear.

Spock nodded, swallowing. “He does.”

Pavel nudged Spock and Jim, who’d been staring at Bones for...probably longer than they should. “We need to get to our places. Hikaru and Bones are meeting us onstage.”

“Right!” Jim and Spock said, startled, jumping into action immediately. They scrambled down the bleachers with the rest of the band.

Hikaru and Bones were already in place on the stage, Bones plugging in his bass. He’d removed his hat and mask. “Hey, congrats, _ Sawbones!_” Jim squealed, running up and giving him a hug.

“Heh. Thanks, sunshine.”

“So why didn’t you get assigned a sidekick?” Spock asked.

Bones shrugged. “Weren’t enough sidekicks in our class to go around.”

“Don’t they usually just pair up the leftover heroes when that happens?” Spock said.

Bones sighed, looking away shyly. “Okay, if I’m being totally honest...when I was registering for graduation, I _ applied _ to be a solo hero, no sidekicks, no partners.”

“They don’t generally let people fly solo,” Jim said in surprise.

“Yeah, but I got special permission. You know me.” Bones smirked. “I don’t play well with others.”

“Well I hope you play well with others right now,” said Nyota, poking her head into their conversation. “‘Cause this is our band’s first ever public gig, and if any of you mess it up, I’m releasing the lion.” From her glare, they knew she meant it. Jim quickly scooted away to get behind his drum set.

Spock noticed Nyota had his guitar over her shoulders. “Uh, Neets...may I have my instrument?”

Nyota grinned. “Oh no. I’m lead guitar this time. You’re on vocals.”

Spock turned pale. _ “What? _ You want _ me _ to sing? In front of all these people?! This isn’t what we rehearsed!”

“Relax, poindexter. It’s just the opening number. I added ‘Brand New’ to the set list. I think it’s ready. _ You’re _ ready.” Nyota punched his arm. “So get up to that microphone!”

His stomach tying itself in knots, Spock’s feet carried him to center stage to the waiting mic and the waiting audience. A few people whooped supportively when they saw Spock. Spock smiled and waved nervously to them.

“Hey.” Spock looked over at Bones, who gave him a reassuring nod. “You got this.”

Spock swallowed hard, steeling himself. He thought about his mirror self, singing before the crowd, confident as anything. _ If he can do it, so can I. _

“Hello, Superfleet Academy!” Jim shouted, raising his drumsticks above his head triumphantly. “We are _ Enterprise! _ Are you ready to _ ROCK?!” _

The audience hollered affirmatively.

Jim grinned at Spock. “It’s all you, sweetheart.” He then tapped out a beat on his drumsticks. _ “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!” _

Jim launched into a pounding beat, and Scotty easily followed along on his keyboard. Soon Bones, Nyota, and Hikaru joined in, and Pavel smacked his tambourine in time. Spock licked his lips, feeling the nerves wash away. He opened his mouth and began to sing.

“_I feel like new sunglasses, like a brand new pair of jeans_,” Spock sang, the sound of his own voice surprising himself. He sounded good...at least he hoped he did. _ “I feel like taking chances. I feel a lot like seventeen!” _

The audience cheered, clapping along.

_ “I feel like windows rolled down, new city, streets and cabs. I feel like anything can happen, laughin’, you take me right back,” _ Spock continued, closing his eyes and letting the rush wash over him. _ “To when we were kids...never thought I'd feel like this...like when I close my eyes, and don't even care if anyone sees me dancing. Like I can fly, and I don't even think of touchin’ the ground. Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page, like a one way trip on an aeroplane. It's the way that I feel when I'm with you...” _ Spock cracked his eyes open and smiled. _ “Brand new.” _

The crowd was losing it. “Go Spock!” Kira yelled.

_ “Brand new!” _

“Sing it!” Julian cried.

_ “I feel like a young John Cusack, like making big mistakes_,” Spock sang with all the feeling in his heart, taking the mic out of its stand, no longer gripping it for dear life. _ “I feel like for the first time in a long time I am not afraid...I feel like a kid. Never thought...it'd feel like this...like when I close my eyes and don't even care if anyone sees me dancing.” _ Spock suddenly got a _ great _ idea and let himself rise several feet from the floor, bringing the mike up with him. The audience went _ ballistic. “Like I can fly! And I don’t even think of touchin’ the ground. Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page! Like a one way trip on an aeroplane. It's the way that I feel when I'm with you...” _ Spock locked eyes briefly with Jim over his shoulder, smiling. _ “Brand new!” _

Jim smiled back, mouthing “I love you.”

Spock slowly floated back down, casually pacing around from band member to band member, let them duet with him in turn. _ “Time will always try to make us fold. You remind me what I used to know...” _

Finally Spock got to Bones and they both leaned into the mic to sing together. _ “Like when I close my eyes and don't even care if anyone sees me dancing!” _ They belted out, grinning at each other, completely carefree. _ “Like I can fly! And I don't even think of touching the ground! Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page, like a one way trip on an aeroplane. It's the way that I feel when I'm with you...” _

Spock looked into Bones’s eyes and smiled. Bones grinned back. _ “BRAND NEW!” _ they shouted.

Spock trotted backward back to center stage and turned his attention back to the audience. _ “Brand new, yeah, yeah, yeah!...and I feel, and I feel, and I feel brand new! I feel brand new...I feel, I feel, I feel brand new.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relax, Spock and Bones still like each other, obviously. The last installment in this series is gonna have endgame McSpirk, if I ever get it written! Lol!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! If you want, you can listen to my Superfleet Academy playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ryDYCEhHZifspPs6TX4l3?si=Lxyc4Q3JQpaa7dLcmpiU5g
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr: victorian-sexstache.tumblr.com.
> 
> Subscribe to my YouTube channel (I make a lot of Star Trek videos lol): youtube.com/c/RenTheBarbarian


End file.
